Archive for the ‘Random Musings’ Category

The courts have yet to weigh in, but a recent settlement between the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and a Connecticut ambulance company may mean more freedom of speech—or at least retaliatory protection—for employees who post comments about their companies online. The incident has several angles to it, only one of which relates to the [...]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently toughened its standards for investigating companies, specifically manufacturers, that under-report injuries and illnesses. In 2009, OSHA announced a "National Emphasis Program on Recordkeeping" that specifically targeted firms that are thought to have incorrectly reported workplace-related injuries and illnesses. The goal was and is to improve reporting accuracy through [...]

Vermont and Washington have both announced new minimum wage rates to take effect on New Year’s Day 2011 based on year-to-year inflation. Vermont’s Department of Labor announced it will increase that state’s minimum wage from $8.06 to $8.15 based on an annual inflation rate of 1.1 percent as calculated in August. Washington’s Department of Labor [...]

Arizona will raise its minimum wage 10 cents above the federal rate on Jan. 1, 2011, bringing it to $7.35 an hour In 2006, Arizona voters enacted the “Raise the Minimum Wage for Working Arizonans Act.” This law provides for annual minimum wage rate hikes based on increases in the cost of living. The cost [...]

Personnel Concepts would like to remind all employers in California that the state’s revised workers’ compensation poster, known as "Notice to Employees–Injuries Caused by Work," goes into effect this Friday, Oct. 8, 2010, according to the California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC). The poster is mandatory and must be displayed in both English and Spanish [...]

In a law taking effect this past August, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has mandated that employers affirmatively inform their employees when anything negative is posted in their personnel files or records. The Office of the Attorney General is in charge of enforcing this new legal provision, but it so far has offered no guidance of [...]

Following its scathing rebuke of Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) program in 2009, Federal OSHA launched a review of all 27 states that administer their own OSH programs and has now released the results. The EFAME (Enhanced Federal Annual Monitoring and Evaluation) reports provide details of the problems and cover fiscal year 2009. Most [...]

Class action lawsuits now outnumber all other employment-based class actions combined, according to a recent study by ELT, a compliance consulting and training organization that recently surveyed 1,800 human resource specialists and senior level managers. More than one-third of the participating companies reported facing claims based on wage-and-hour disputes in 2010. As a result, more [...]

On Monday, July 26, 2010, which was the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued new final regulations regarding service animals and the use of Segways (mobility devices).  Dogs and miniature horses individually trained to mitigate the effects of a disability are now the [...]