Non-exempt and hourly employees, under the new Health Care Reform Bill, are required to be given reasonable unpaid time to express breast milk. The bill, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), specifically states that the duration and frequency of these breaks will vary from
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In the 2010 mid-term elections, Republicans won at least 60 seats in the house and 7 governor’s races. These record-breaking victories were the best showing by any party since 1948. The House of Representatives showed the greatest gains. Republicans wrested control in states from Washington to Florida.
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The federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or FMLA, applies to employers with 50 or more workers within 75 miles. The FMLA requires that an employer give an employee up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period, for one of three reasons:
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Several laws require that Arkansas employers protect an employee’s privacy, including HIPAA, ADA and others. State laws can also require privacy in some cases. The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA requires that healthcare providers, insurance companies, pharmacies and others keep the patient’s medical
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The federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or FMLA, applies to employers with 50 or more workers within 75 miles. The FMLA requires that an employer give an employee up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period, for one of three reasons:
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The FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) is the federal law that governs minimum wage applies to employers engaged in interstate commerce or whose annual earnings are at least $500,000. The recently passed Health Care Reform Bill has made amendments to the FLSA, specifically regarding breastfeeding mothers.
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Group health insurance premiums are expected to rise 9% in 2011, compared to 11-20% for small employers in 2010, according to a report recently released by PricewaterhouseCoopers or PWC. More employers are eliminating co-pays for visits to a doctor’s office and charging workers a percentage of the
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Employers nationwide are advised to be careful when dealing with “comp time,” or compensatory time off in place of overtime pay under federal law. Under many conditions it is illegal. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA prohibits private businesses from giving workers comp time instead
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Employers who fail to intervene when a hostile work environment exists could end up paying dramatically large damages to the aggrieved workers under federal law. In a recent case, for example, a dozen former and current female employees of a new car dealership chain were awarded $12
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The Human Resources profession recommends that every employer give his or her employees a half-hour unpaid meal break and two 10- to 15-minute paid breaks during the workday. However, no federal law mandates that employers must offer meal breaks for general industry workers. Among the
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New regulations under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for 2009 require workers to follow their companies’ standard reporting procedures when they take unscheduled, intermittent time off under the act. The change in the regulations follow the U.S. Labor Department’s release of a 182-page review
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Federal law demands it: many employers throughout the U.S. must allow their employees of the Islamic faith to take prayer breaks. Muslims, in turn, are required by their religion to pray, facing east, five specific times during the day. Many employers have answered this spiritual
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In a recent year, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered over $25 billion in employee benefit funds. These funds had been misappropriated by employers to help solve cash flow problems and for company officers to treat themselves to new cars, houses and even race horses. Unfortunately, the amount recovered
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Many employees are surprised to learn that there is no federal maternity leave law. Instead, most employees are entitled to unpaid FMLA leave for pregnancy, childbirth or baby bonding under FMLA. The federal FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) provides up to 12 weeks of
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Prior to 1993, an employee could be terminated for missing a couple of weeks from work, even if the worker had suffered a heart attack, or was caring for a seriously ill child. After 1993, that changed. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act was established
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The federal minimum wage increases from $6.55 to $7.25 on July 24, 2009, the last of the increases that started in 2007 with a hike from $5.15 to $5.85 per hour. The next was from $5.85 to $6.55 in 2008. With the third and final increase in
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On July 24, 2009 Maryland’s minimum wage will increase by 70 cents an hour, going from $6.55 to $7.25. On that same day, the federal minimum wage increases, and by law, the state minimum wage cannot be less. Nationwide, state minimum wage laws vary widely and dramatically.
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Every time an employee steps away from his or her work station to take a smoking break, the employer is paying for unproductive time. There is no state or federal smoking break law. Employers are not obligated to give workers time away from their workstation, to smoke.
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Several industries and across the country use ATVs in their work. The vehicles are popular for outdoor work, such as landscaping, construction and forestry. The vehicles look like recreational toys, but their innocent appearance hides what can be a dangerous vehicle. The use of ATVs in industry rises every
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Many employees have questions about the meaning of sex discrimination under the federal law. Sex discrimination doesn’t have to involve physical contact. Creating a situation where the employee is subjected to sexual, abusive contact because of his or her gender is also discrimination. This type of sex discrimination creates
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The term hostile work environment is often considered only to be connected to sexual harassment where an employee suffers abusive behavior and language because of his or her gender. Federal laws have determined that hostile work environment also applies to more than just gender. A hostile environment
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The federal law governing overtime pay for wage-earners in the U.S. requires that some salaried employees be paid overtime when they work more than 40 hours a week. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the applicable law. The FLSA has in fact created two
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For employers and employees in the U.S. who want to know more about the minimum wage and how it applies to tipped workers, here’s a link to a federal website. Under federal law, employers are not required to pay tipped workers the full federal minimum wage,
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Employers are required by law to display posters detailing labor laws, including the laws that pertain to federal and state minimum wage. Every time the laws are changed, the posters must be changed, too. The last change in the federal minimum wage occurred in July of 2008,
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Travel time during the workday is a complex issue. No employer expects to pay a worker for the time it takes to get from home to the job. Most employees would not expect to be paid for the travel time either. If the drive to a special
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Many workers think that working on a federal holiday legally entitles them to extra pay. This is a misconception. There is no state or federal that requires a company to pay employees extra for working on a holiday. In fact, employers are not required by law to
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Federal laws prohibit employers from terminating a worker due to their religion, sex, race, color, national origin, age (over 40) or disability. As long as these laws aren’t violated, however, a company can utilize its employment at will doctrine to fire an employee. Across the nation, a
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Many employees in the state of Rhode Island are covered by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. However, not all employees will be covered by the Act. The ADEA is a federal Act, which means that it applies to qualifying employees and employers in states across the country.
The Rehabilitation Act is a federal Act that applies to many employees across the country, including many employees that are in the state of Michigan. However, the Act does not apply to all employers or all employees. When the Act does cover an employee and an employer, the employer may
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The Rehabilitation Act applies to many employees in the state of Delaware, as it applies to many employees in states across the country because it is a federal Act. When an employee has a qualifying disability and works for a covered employer, the employer is prohibited from discriminating against the
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