Sacramento’ HR Allen Consulting Services looks to update and educate California employers and HR professionals on HR and employment law trends and topics
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Tags: Podcast, HR Podcast, blogtalkradio, HR Allen Consulting Services, HR Informant, HR Allen
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) just issued two guides (one for employers and one for disabled veterans) addressing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and employment protections for veterans with service-connected disabilities.
The guides reflect legal changes made to ADA laws when the ADA was amended in 2008. These legal changes, according to the EEOC, made it “easier for veterans with a wide range of impairments – including those that are often not well understood – such as traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTD), to get needed reasonable accommodations that will enable them to work successfully.”
The Guide for Employers explains how the ADA applies to recruiting, hiring and accommodating disabled veterans. The guide also explains the difference between protection for veterans provided by the ADA versus those protections provided by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
For example, the Guide for Employers explains that:
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Tags: ADA laws, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), disabilities act, disabled veterans, EEOC regulations, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), VA, VA assistance, VA disability, veterans administration, veterans disability benefits, veterans disability claims
Ever get the feeling your workers would rather be doing anything other than working? Do you have unusually high turnover? If the answer to either question is yes, it could be that you’re hiring the wrong people. But it could also very well beyou. In a small-business environment, there aren’t many (if any) other people to blame when there’s a management problem.
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Tags: Productivity, HR, performance review, employees, HR Allen Consulting Services, management
Two state entities are holding a series of public meetings across the state to gather comments about current workers’ compensation issues from employers and other stakeholders.
The open forum discussions are planned by the state Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC). DIR and DWC also seek suggestions for improvements.
DIR Director Christine Baker and DWC Administrative Director Rosa Moran will be among the speakers at the meetings.
Topics of discussion will include:
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Tags: DIR, workers' comp, DWC, workers' compensation, HR Allen Consulting Services
The online era arms small-business owners with myriad tools and information for finding and hiring employees. It can be tempting to scope out a potential employee’s social profiles, too. Yet using social media to dig up dirt on an applicant can lead to hiring mistakes and even legal trouble.
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Tags: Recruiting, LinkedIn, HR Allen Consulting Services, Hiring, facebook
The state Labor Commissioner announced the creation of a Criminal Investigation Unit (CIU) to target employers who perpetrate “wage theft.”
Generally, “wage theft” is a phrase used to refer to infractions of the California Labor Code involving the payment of wages to workers. Wage theft might refer to employers who fail to pay for all hours worked, fail to pay nonexempt employees overtime, fail to pay minimum wage or fail to properly classify workers as employees and report them to the various state and federal agencies.
According to Labor Commissioner Julie Su, the new criminal unit “will be tasked with leveling the playing field for California employers by raising the stakes for those who underpay, underbid and under-report in violation of the law.”
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Tags: employee rights, CA min wage, California labor board, California labor laws overtime, California overtime pay, employees rights, Equal pay for equal work, exempt employee, fair labor, nonexempt employee, overtime pay laws, Salary requirements, wage theft prevention, California Labor Code, HR Allen Consulting Services, unfair labor practices, wage and hour
HR Allen is asking employers and HR Professionals to tell us how will their company will address March Madness this year.
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Today, a federal district court for the District of Columbia issued a decision in a lawsuit brought by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) challenging the new NLRA posting requirement. The court upheld the posting requirement, but struck down some of the enforcement provisions relating to the new rule.
As previously reported, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided to require most private-sector employers to post a new notice entitled "Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act." NAM challenged the posting requirement on multiple legal grounds, including arguments that the posting requirement exceeded the NLRB’s authority under the NLRA and that the requirement violated employers’ First Amendment free speech rights.
In the first decision on this issue, the federal court issued a split decision upholding part of the new rule, while overturning other provisions. The court ruled that:
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Tags: NLRA poster, new NLRA poster, private sector employers, NLRB posting requirement, employees, HR Allen Consulting Services, Employers
If you put gas in your car lately, you know about skyrocketing gas prices. In the past two weeks, gas prices nationwide rose nearly 20 cents according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
It’s worse in California, where gas prices spiked by more than 45 cents in two weeks, and more than 25 cents in the past week alone. The average price for all grades of gasoline in California has been pushed to $4.338 a gallon (week ending 2/27/12). Prices in California are expected to exceed all-time highs.
As employees face rising gas costs, employers may be hit with questions regarding reimbursement of business mileage expenses. Last summer, the IRS gave a mid-year increase to the mileage reimbursement rate — to 55.5 cents per mile from 51 cents per mile — because of rising gas prices. The IRS has not changed this rate in 2012, and 55.5 cents per mile remains the effective rate.
Under California Labor Code section 2802, employers must fully reimburse employees for all expenses actually and necessarily incurred. Many employers typically choose to use the IRS mileage reimbursement rate, but its use is optional. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement has opined that the use of the IRS mileage rate will generally satisfy an employer’s obligation to reimburse for business related vehicle expenses, absent evidence to the contrary.
However, if an employee can show that the chosen mileage reimbursement rate, even the IRS rate, does not cover all actual expenses the employee has incurred, the employer must pay the difference. Business vehicle expenses do not include only gasoline, but also wear and tear (depreciation), repairs, oil, insurance and other costs.
Generally, the IRS rate will cover such expenses. But California employers should make certain those expenses are covered, especially if the employee drives a gas guzzler:
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Tags: Federal mileage rate, IRS 2012 mileage rate, IRS mileage, IRS mileage rate 2012, IRS mileage reimbursement rate, Mileage rate 2012 California, Mileage reimbursement, HR Allen Consulting Services, HRCalifornia
So you think you know everything about Independent Contractors and how to define them from an Employee? Do you know that top common misconceptions? If so, then Kudos to you. So for the other millions that are unaware on how to classify an Independent Contractor and are not aware of the misconceptions, I am here to help.
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Tags: misclassifying, misconceptions, common misconceptions, HR Allen Consulting Services, independent contractor, employee