Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer, who was caught in the crossfire earlier this year after axing Yahoo’s work from home policy, has expanded the company’s parental leave benefits.

Tags: HR Allen Consulting Services, HR Informant, California leave laws, expanded parental leave of absence, parental leave of absence, Yahoo

On May 1, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that an Iowa jury awarded damages totaling $240 million — the largest verdict in the federal agency’s history — in a lawsuit related to disability discrimination and severe abuse.

Tags: employees, HR Allen Consulting Services, Employers, HR Informant, EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, disability discrimination, disability-based wage discrimination

A newly identified “job killer” bill will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 7.

Tags: HR Allen Consulting Services, HR Informant, ndependent contractor, independent contractor status, job killer, SB 556

The California Chamber of Commerce today released its latest edition of CalChamber News featuring information about Covered California, the state’s health exchange.  Covered California is the first-in-the nation online health insurance marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act.  It will help individuals and small businesses compare health plans, get answers to questions, find out if they qualify for federal tax credits and enroll in a plan that meets their specific needs.

Tags: HR Allen Consulting Services, HR Informant, federal health care reform, small businesses, California employers, Affordable Care Act, California health exchange, Covered California

A Colorado court ruled that an employer can still fire an employee for a positive marijuana drug test, even though state law permits the medical and recreational use of marijuana.

Tags: employees, California, HR Allen Consulting Services, Employers, HR Informant, termination, Colorado, Inc., medical marijuana, medical marijuana use, Ross v. RagingWire

California regulates wages and hours of nonexempt employees by creating documents called Wage Orders. There are 17 Wage Orders. You must determine which Wage Order(s) govern your business and post a copy of the applicable order(s) in your workplace.

Recently, minor technical revisions were made to all 17 Wage Orders. These revisions reflect that the Division of Labor Statics Research was eliminated last year and that many of its previous functions are now handled by the Office of Policy, Research and Legislation.

The revisions also include changes to contact information for the various Division of Labor Standards Enforcement offices throughout the state.

Updated versions of all 17 Wage Orders can be downloaded from DIR. The Wage Orders are free of charge. 

Tags: HR Allen Consulting Services, HR Informant, DLSE, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, California Wage Orders, wage orders

Wouldn’t we like to know if a potential applicant has ever criticized a former employer, or whether their online presence gives evidence of illegal activity or violent, discriminatory or unethical behavior? Or just poor judgment? What if they belong to political groups, like the Tea Party or the ACLU?

Tags: California, HR Allen Consulting Services, HR Informant, Privacy, Employment, Reasonable Expectation, Right, Hiring

If you are employing piece-rate employees who don’t get paid for downtime, California Courts have just given you a piece of their minds. 

Tags: HR Allen Consulting Services, HR Informant, Minimum Wage, Commissions, Downtime, Pay, Piece Rate

Picture this scenario:  you run a private residential facility for abused children.  Late one night, one of your computers is used to access pornographic web-sites and other inappropriate material in violation of several well-publicized workplace policies.  After further investigation, you learn that the inappropriate computer usage occurred on several occasions, but was limited to that one computer, which is located in an office shared by two day-shift employees in the administrative building.  Several employees have access to the building and could have used the computer on the nights in question.  Concerned that the culprit might be a staff member who works with the children, you hatch the perfect plan to catch him or her:  place a hidden camera in the office!  Of course, you don’t want to publicize its placement.  That would defeat the purpose and the guilty party would simply find another computer to use.  Besides, you plan to activate the camera only at night, several hours after the day shift has left the facility.  The daytime occupants of the office won’t care that it’s there.  Genius!

Tags: HR Allen Consulting Services, HR Informant, Privacy, California Constitution, Employment, Reasonable Expectation, Right, Surveillance, Videotaping

Tags: California heat illness standard, heat illness training, high-heat procedures, HR Allen Consulting Services, HR Informant, heat illness