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You won’t work Sundays?! EEOC guide explains religious accommodations

08/21/2008

Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against employees and applicants based on their religion. The EEOC recently published guidance to help employers deal with employees’ religion-based questions regarding time off, free speech, religious clothing and more …

Work Marathon Interrupted by Olympics Online

08/19/2008
The Games of the XXIX Olympiad are in full swing, and that means a certain number of your employees are watching on the web. According to a CareerBuilder.com survey, 12% of workers say they plan to watch some of the Beijing Olympics at work. Should you crack down … or see what life lessons the Games can offer?

5 Steps for Communicating Benefits Changes

08/19/2008

As your organization shifts more responsibility to employees to manage their own health and retirement expenses, you risk alienating your work force. But it doesn’t have to be that way …

‘Razor-Free Fridays’ help cut water use

08/19/2008
The Georgia Department of Agriculture is encouraging employees to skip their morning shaves on casual Fridays to help alleviate drought conditions gripping much of the state …

Imperial Sugar fined $8.7 million in wake of deadly explosion

08/19/2008
Federal officials proposed more than $8.7 million in fines against Imperial Sugar Co., the third-highest fine total in the history of OSHA. The agency fined Imperial Sugar $5 million for violations at its plant near Savannah, where 13 workers were killed in an explosion this spring, and another $3.7 million for violations at its Gramercy, La., plant …

What are the rules on employee access to personnel records?

08/15/2008

Q. Are we required to allow employees to inspect their personnel files? Must these files be retained at each office (rather than at a centralized location)? …

Breaks required—But forcing employees to take them isn’t

08/15/2008
In what may end up being a landmark decision, a California Court of Appeal has held that Golden State employers aren’t required to ensure employees actually take meal and rest breaks. Employers are in the clear as long as they permit breaks and do not prevent or discourage employees from taking them …

What are our responsibilities concerning breastfeeding in the workplace?

08/15/2008

Q. A number of our employees are pregnant. What are our obligations to accommodate their need to breastfeed when they return to work? …

Warn managers: Zero tolerance for any kind of age-related harassment

08/15/2008
Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, it is unlawful for an employer to harass an employee based on the employee’s age. And employers are strictly liable for workplace harassment if the harasser is a supervisor. As a practical matter, that means HR must make sure no supervisor or manager makes any kind of comment that suggests any kind of age bias …

Ensure handbook doesn’t make FMLA promises you can’t keep

08/13/2008
An Indiana employer must now respond to charges it misled employees when it promised FMLA benefits in its handbook, even though the company is too small to be covered by the FMLA. The case, recently decided by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, shows the problems that arise when employers promise more than they are willing to deliver in their employee handbooks …