With hope slipping away for passing the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) or more transparently referred to as the “Card Check” bill, the President has decided to use the Back Door Approach to promoting the Big Union’s prime hope for recovery in the private workplace.

A Federal law, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, requires all employers to verify the identity and employment authorization of each individual they hire for employment in the United States, regardless of that individual's citizenship.

A case now before the Supreme Court suggests employers not only draft strong technology use policies but also to strictly enforce those policies in accordance with their written terms.

“How can I prove misconduct”?  Pacific Employers is frequently consulted on terminations.  We are asked  “How can I prove misconduct”?

hen times are tough, you must make cuts, so an employer inquired of the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) questioning whether an employee would retain their exempt status if the company reduced payroll by having the exempt employees work only four days (or 32 hours) per week.

Employers have always needed to concern themselves with conflicting and overlapping laws such as the Americans With Disability Act (ADA)  and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  Recently the EEOC has created a conundrum that renders years of policy meaningless.

The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act  (HIPAA) requires health plans to maintain the privacy of any personal information relating to its patients' physical or mental health.   HIPAA’s privacy rules were put into place  for the purpose of protecting the privacy of individually identifiable health information, and advancing the confidentiality provisions of the Patient Safety Rule.  Employers have had little of the privacy rules applied to them since the law became effective in 1966.

In 1957 the watershed legislation was passed that established the Agricultural Labor Relations Board in California.  This law was a turning point for agricultural laborers because it provided for secret-ballot elections in union organizing campaigns.

The new administration promised changes in worker safety and is now making good on that promise.  When reading the safety-activist blogs and media reports, you would believe that OSHA is broken and needs to be fixed.  Citing decreased funding (adjusted for inflation) and a decrease in the number of OSHA inspectors as proof positive that OSHA needs a cure.

Those for and against the workplace raids by Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, or ICE, have been anticipating major changes in immigration policy since President Barack Obama’s election, particularly since he selected Janet Napolitano, a former border state governor and prosecutor, to head Homeland Security.