Archive for May, 2009

Comp Time in the Private Sector

May 29, 2009 at 10:39 am by: West Virginia Employment Law Letter

On February 10, 2009, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) again introduced the Family Friendly Workplace Act, which, if passed, would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and authorize private employers to provide compensatory (or “comp”) time off in lieu of overtime pay.
For almost 20 years, the public sector has been using comp time, and [...]

Losing More Than Just an Employee: Protecting Confidential Information

May 29, 2009 at 10:23 am by: Oklahoma Employment Law Letter

by Rachel Blue
Lately, we’ve seen a lot of employees walking out of buildings and plants with boxes of framed photos from their desks or lockers, and maybe a severance check in an envelope. The job cuts this time are deeper, and the next job may be further away than in the past. As a result, [...]

Recent Opinion Letters from the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division

May 15, 2009 at 1:55 pm by: Alabama Employment Law Letter

Alexander Passantino’s advice to the lovelorn may not be the makings of the next Sex and the City show, but his pen holds serious sway with hipsters of the payroll specialist in crowd. Alex is the acting administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD). As the grand oracle of [...]

Legal Issues with Independent Contractors Plugged into Your Electronic Resources

May 15, 2009 at 11:41 am by: HR Insight

by David Micah Kaufman
Like many of us, several of my friends have recently suffered vocational dislocation (no matter what we name it, losing a job is still a tragedy). One of these friends called me a few weeks ago and told me he had landed a position as a independent contractor for a financial services [...]

When Are Chiropractors ‘Health Care Providers’ Under the FMLA?

May 15, 2009 at 11:16 am by: Indiana Employment Law Letter

A little-known provision of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) makes treatment by a chiropractor different from treatment by almost any other health care provider. Let’s take a closer look at that provision.
HR Guide to Employment Law: A practical compliance reference manual covering 14 topics, including FMLA

Attacking Motherhood and Apple Pie: Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace

May 9, 2009 at 2:49 pm by: Alabama Employment Law Letter

by Al Vreeland
What could be more noxious to the American soul than an assault on motherhood? We all have a mother (though some might question the genetic origin of lawyers). Many of us return to her apron strings when we need reassurance that we haven’t become fat and stupid (or at least completely so). And [...]

Increased Enforcement of Labor Laws a Top Priority for Obama Administration

May 8, 2009 at 2:35 pm by: Federal Employment Law Insider

One of the clearest indications of an administration’s priorities is the budget and the amount of funding provided to various programs. Budgets always have winners and losers and reflect the degree to which programs will be implemented. A review of President Barack Obama’s proposed budget and recent agency actions demonstrates that increased enforcement of labor [...]

In States Where Unemployment Rates Rise, Employer Costs May Follow

May 8, 2009 at 2:27 pm by: Employers State Law Alert

According to the most recent Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, state and regional unemployment rates continued their upward climb throughout the month of March. Forty-six states reported unemployment rate increases in March, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia have higher rates than they did [...]