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Employment Law

Pension Protection Act of 2006

01/02/2010
HR Law 101: The Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows employers to more easily move employees from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans. It also established tougher standards for employers to meet to ensure existing pensions’ solvency.

FLSA: Record-Keeping Requirements

01/02/2010

HR Law 101: The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to keep records on wages, hours and other employee data, most of which is generally maintained in ordinary business practice. You do not need to keep the records in any particular form or use time clocks …

ERISA: Reporting and Disclosure Rules

01/02/2010

HR Law 101: Employers must comply with the reporting and disclosure requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), designed to protect employees’ rights to benefits. An employer’s benefits package must take the form of a Summary Plan Description, which you must provide to participants and beneficiaries to advise them of their rights under the plan …

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act

01/01/2010

HR Law 101: The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), signed into law in May 2008, prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against job applicants or employees based on their genetic information in hiring, firing, compensation or any other terms of employment.

Should HR work space be separated from others?

01/01/2010

Q. We don’t have a lot of space in our office. Our HR staff shares space with administrative employees and some managers. Must we separate the HR staff from others to protect employee records from snooping eyes?

Unionized Workplaces: Management’s Rights

01/01/2010

HR Law 101: Let’s say a union has just won a representation election and now you’ve become a unionized employer. Suddenly, after running your own business, you’ve got a partner. No more unilateral decisions in dealing with your employees …

Just desserts after a 5-year free lunch

01/01/2010

For Anthony Armatys, a job with communications company Avaya was the best job he never took. The Illinois man recently pleaded guilty to theft by deception after he failed to report that Avaya had deposited $469,000 worth of pay into his bank account, despite the fact that he never put in a day’s work for the company. Latest news: He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8.

What’s the law on hiring a private eye to check for workers’ comp fraud?

01/01/2010

Q. We suspect one of our employees has filed a fraudulent workers’ compensation claim. We would like to hire a private investigator to gather information on the worker’s activities. What laws would govern that decision?

Griddlegate: Pancakes, French toast sweetened state e-mails

01/01/2010

Gov. Charlie Crist has called for an investigation following allegations that Florida Department of Transportation employees used code words in e-mails referring to the state’s pending high-speed rail program. Some e-mails refer to “pancakes” and “French toast,” apparent code words for aspects of the transit. The suspected reason for the syrupy sleight of hand: to avoid having the e-mails discovered through Freedom of Information Act requests.

Handling an EEOC investigation

01/01/2010

Q. A former employee recently filed a complaint against my company with the EEOC. He is alleging race discrimination. As part of its investigation, the EEOC will be coming to our offices to interview employees. Do I have to make these employees available? Can I sit in on the employee interviews?