2013 brought many changes to employee benefit plans, and several more are coming in 2014.What has recently changed or will change in the near future?Retirement Plans Required Individually Designed Plan Restatements: If you have an individually designed retirement plan...

DECEMBER 17, 2013--ON JANUARY 6, EQUAL PAY ACT POSTING REQUIREMENTS KICK IN FOR NEW JERSEY EMPLOYERS.  Implementing an amendment to the New Jersey Equal Pay Act, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) released the new mandatory gender...

Employers of all varieties face lawsuits arising from claimed violations of employment laws.  Often such violations are inadvertent and entirely avoidable. Here is a list of ten ways a company or even a human resources department may violate the law without realizing...

The holiday season is upon us again, and some companies consider closing their operations during all or part of a holiday week. Companies planning a shutdown during all or part of any holiday week should consider the effect of a shutdown on their wage payment...

It’s vital for your senior management team to stay abreast of changing labor laws that may affect your organization.  The beginning of the calendar year is a popular time for labor law changes that impact companies of all size.  To enable employers to stay informed of...

New York is now collaborating with the federal government to go after employers that misclassify employees as independent contractors.The US Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on November 18 entered into agreements with New York's attorney...

1)  It frees them to concentrate on core competencies. HR does not produce a product, yet it can eat up a lot of an organization’s time and energy. A great HR department demands resources and continual oversight and innovation. Many organizations would rather focus on...

As 2013 comes to an end, we will consider a number of issues that employers might be facing at the end of the year. In this blog series, we will cover topics such as seasonal hiring, religious discrimination claims stemming from the holidays, liability issues arising...

It's December, and human resources professionals and law departments are reflecting on the issues addressed in 2013 and giving thanks for incident-free holiday parties. But the big question is this: What issues should get priority attention for 2014 as part of a...

Currently, there is no explicit federal protection for sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression* but that may change soon. On November 7, 2013, the Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 (ENDA) (S. 815), which was first introduced by the...

There was an acceleration of activity oriented towards increasing minimum wages across the United States.  This activity has been fueled by a number of developments, including inflation in the cost of food and fuel.  Efforts targeted to the US Congress has been...

Here is an overview of some of the most pressing and exciting employment law issues to watch in 2014, with an emphasis on issues that global companies in particular can expect to see.1. Implementation of Federal Health Care LawThe Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s “employer...

If "refusal" to work on weekends is not related to a protected leave of absence, you would simply want to hold this individual accountable for any absence that occurs on a scheduled Saturday the same way you would any other scheduled shift.   It is recommended that...

Are you ready for OSHA’s new Hazard Communication Standard? The United States is changing from having its own separate system to using the international United Nations’ standards for the labeling of chemicals and will now use the international Safety Data Sheet (SDS)...

Many employers adopt policies that restrict employee internet conduct that could impact the company’s business.  While it is prudent to provide employees with clear rules in this area, employers must be wary of aggressive National Labor Relations Board activity in...

There have been many news stories recently about the Employment NonDiscrimination Act (ENDA), which the U.S. Senate appears certain to pass this month. Commentators have different opinions about whether the House of Representatives will also pass some version of ENDA....

Tips to take heed of during this time of year:Sexual harassment, fights between co-workers, employees driving home drunk – the list of potential liabilities is enough to make an employer consider cancelling the annual holiday party altogether.But if doesn’t have to be...