HRIS / Technology

What’s a ‘reasonable’ ADA accommodation? See new guide

12/01/2002

Federal law says companies with 15 or more workers have to provide “reasonable accommodations” to disabled workers, unless it would cause the company “undue hardship.” Newly updated guidelines from the Equal …

Labor Department offers Spanish-language FMLA poster

10/01/2002

Covered employers are required to post a “Your Rights Under the FMLA” poster and are expected to communicate the basics about the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to employees who …

Feelings of exploitation, ‘e-overtime’ lead to rise in wage lawsuits

09/01/2002

Taking work home and working off the clock is causing employees to feel they’re being taken advantage of by their employers. And letting the situation fester is contributing in a big …

OSHA enforcing recordkeeping rules; find out if you must comply

09/01/2002

At the start of 2002, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revamped its regulations on which companies must keep injury and illness records. OSHA gave companies six months to get …

Employees have zero privacy claim on e-mail

08/01/2002

Two insurance workers sued, claiming privacy rights, after they were fired for forwarding sexually explicit e-mails. The company had a clear policy that banned defamatory, abusive, obscene or threatening messages. The …

Employ workers outside America? Two rulings boost your legal risks

07/01/2002

1. EU harassment rule. Employers in Europe will need to do a better job of preventing sexual harassment. Reason: A newly approved European Union (EU) directive, which takes effect in 2005, …

You can provide benefit plan documents electronically

06/01/2002

New Labor Department rules say employers can use electronic means to give employees benefits information, like summary plan descriptions, individual benefit statements and COBRA notices. The rules even allow more options, …

Avoid Liability for ‘Porn Spam’

06/01/2002

Q. Some of our employees have been getting a lot of spam e-mail that advertises porn sites. I’m concerned that an employee will consider this junk as creating a hostile work environment. What can we do to protect ourselves? —M.C., Minnesota

Employees have no privacy claim to company-supplied home PC

05/01/2002

For 12 years, a senior insurance executive used two company- provided computers, one at the office and one at his home. He had signed his company’s computer policy, agreeing to use …

Driving while dialing: Set policy to limit car-phone liability