Features
Employer's Review of Text Messages on Company Pager Reasonable
In a closely watched case and in a nearly unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the City of Ontario, CA, Police Department did not violate the Fourth Amendment privacy rights of its employee when it audited text messages he had sent and received on a department-issued paging device.
Features
DOL: Same-Sex Partners May Qualify For FMLA Leave
In an Opinion Letter issued on June 22, 2010, the U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL) clarified who may be a parent under the Family and Medical Leave Act, including same-sex domestic partners who stand <i>in loco parentis</i> to a child.
Features
Employers Beware
Employee mobility, coupled with the exceeding ease with which confidential and proprietary trade secret information can be stored and transported, creates the perfect platform for trade secret theft. And it's not just a hypothetical problem.
Supreme Court Blockbuster Decision
On June 24, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in <i>New Process Steel, L.P. v. NLRB</i>, ruling that the National Labor Relations Board (does not have the authority to issue decisions without at least three members currently sitting on the Board. The decision invalidates in one fell swoop some 600 decisions that had been issued by the Board during a recent 27-month period in which the Board had only two members.
Features
Valuing Payments in Lieu of WARN Notice
Employers often fail to take into account all elements of compensation and benefits when valuing payments in lieu of notice. This article addresses certain elements of such payments that are often overlooked.
Features
To Provide Health Insurance or Not? That Is the Question
The new healthcare bill will require employers to make a major decision: should they provide employees with "sufficient" healthcare coverage, or should they just pay the penalties? The decision will require a serious cost-benefit analysis.
Features
Telecommuting and the Virtual Workplace
The virtual workplace and telecommuting arrangements create a number of potential pitfalls for employers that do not follow the "traditional" workplace model. When employers have employees who do not "power off" and leave work at work, there are a number of important issues they must consider to manage the virtual workplace.
Beware the Probationary Employment Period
Employers often labor under the misconception that they can discipline or terminate a probationary employee during the "probationary period" with no legal risk. This, however, is not the case.
Features
Conducting an Effective and Preventative Compensation Review
With the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the EEOC's and OFCCP's increased focus on compensation discrimination, and the government's increased budget for these agencies, compensation decisions are destined to come under increased scrutiny from employees, their attorneys and the government.
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