by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 1/9/2019 Some workplaces have a higher risk of unlawful harassment than others. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, various factors can increase the likelihood of unlawful workplace harassment. Do any of the following risk factors exist in your workplace?
More... by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 10/30/2018 The #MeToo movement has put a spotlight on workplace sexual harassment and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has taken notice. The EEOC released preliminary enforcement data for the 2018 fiscal year to highlight its recent efforts to address the pervasive problem of workplace harassment. More...
by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 8/24/2018 Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), employers must verify the identity and employment authorization of all employees and document that information using the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for enforcing the IRCA, which is precisely what it has been doing.
More... by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 5/9/2018 Employees of a Mercedes-Benz dealership in California filed a lawsuit to collect unpaid overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act. They took their case all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. In April 2018, the Court issued its 5-4 decision. The employees lost.
More... by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 4/9/2018 Untitled Document When is an intern considered an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act? In case you haven’t heard, the answer to this question recently changed. In January 2018, the Department of Labor clarified that going forward, a “primary beneficiary” test will be used to determine whether interns are employees under the FLSA.
If you don’t think this is significant, think again. The FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime pay requirements apply to employees, not interns. “For profit” employers are not required by the FLSA to compensate interns for their work. Not surprisingly, some employers have tried to exploit unpaid interns by accepting free labor without providing an appreciable benefit in education or experience.
More... by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 2/20/2018 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing various federal equal employment opportunity laws. The EEOC annually releases fiscal year enforcement and litigation data to keep the public apprised of its efforts and results. The most recent release shows that the EEOC received 84,254 individual charges of workplace discrimination in FY 2017.
The good news is that this is lower than the number of charges filed in fiscal years 2016 (91,503), 2015 (89,385) and 2014 (88,778). The bad news is that 69,583 charges were closed because there was no reasonable cause to believe that discrimination occurred based upon evidence obtained in investigation.
More... by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 2/18/2018 Do you remember when President Obama first directed the Secretary of Labor to update the white-collar overtime exemption regulations? Since then, employers endured the uncertainty of not knowing if, when or how they would be affected by the new overtime rules.
But now, at long last, it looks like employers can stop thinking and worrying about the 2016 white-collar overtime exemption regulations. Finally.
More... by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 2/16/2018 Are you ready for www.InsertYourCondoHere.com? Thanks to a recent statutory amendment, if your condominium association has 150 or more units, you need to start getting ready.
By July 1, 2018, associations with 150 or more units are required to post digital copies of various documents on websites that are accessible through the Internet. This means that associations that don’t have a website have less than a year to get one.
More... by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 12/29/2016 Employers must use Form I-9 to verify the identity and employment authorization of each individual hired in the United States. Though the last version of Form I-9 expired in March 2016, employers were instructed to keep using the expired form until they received further notice from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. On November 14, 2016, employers received their further notice when USCIS published a revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
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Tags: citzenship, immigration, I9, EEOC, human resources, HR, employment, employment law, compliance, tax, taxes, tax filing, government, government regulation, united states, U.S.
Categories: 2016, 2017, Human Resources
by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 11/10/2016 The current federal minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is $7.25 per hour ($2.13 for tipped employees). Most states, however, have established their own minimum wage, and employees in these states are entitled to whichever minimum wage is higher. Given the existence of multiple minimum wage rates, employers, particularly those operating in more than one state, must know which minimum wage rate (or rates) may apply to their operations.
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Tags: FLSA, federal minimum wage, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington
Categories: 2016, 2017
by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 9/7/2016 Did you
know that retaliation is asserted in nearly 45 percent of all
charges received by the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)? In 2015, the EEOC received nearly
40,000 charges of unlawful retaliation, which may explain why, on August 29,
2016, the EEOC issued its final Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related
Issues. And, as a general rule, if the EEOC is particularly concerned about a
specific unlawful employment practice, employers should be too.
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Tags:
Categories: 2016
by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 8/11/2016 Can employers offer incentives to encourage participation in wellness programs that ask disability-related questions or require medical examinations? Though the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) permits health-related inquiries and medical examinations that are part of a voluntary health program, ADA regulations didn’t address whether employers may offer incentives to encourage employee participation in these health programs...until now.
More... 202d7d72-cb28-4642-acdf-e768d54d68bc|0|.0
Tags: benefits & compensation administration, Business Strategy, Benefits and Compensation Administration, Disability and Discrimination Policies, Discrimination, Workplace Rights, health, benefits, group benefits, wellness
Categories: 2016, Human Resources, Safety
by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 7/7/2016 Did you know that each year there are more than 3 million serious (requiring more than first aid) workplace injuries and illnesses? Even though the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to provide safe and healthy workplaces, the number of injuries and illnesses remains unacceptably high. To help combat this problem, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently revised various workplace safety regulations.
More... 7e2e8f35-d360-40a6-a8c5-e0f346082b4d|0|.0
Tags: OSHA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Workplace Safety, ergonomics and facilities safety, equipment, Employee Relations and Communication, Employment Liability, Workplace Rights, Workplace Rights
Categories: 2016, Human Resources, Risk Management, Safety
by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 6/15/2016 On December 1, 2016, employers will have to pay more to take advantage of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) so-called white collar overtime exemptions. To prepare for the upcoming change, employers need to know whether and to what extent they will be affected by the new overtime exemption regulations.
The new rules focus primarily on the minimum salary and compensation levels needed to qualify for the FLSA’s executive, administrative, professional and computer employee overtime exemptions. Employers can ask the following questions to determine the potential impact of the new overtime rules before it’s too late.
Are there any employees classified as exempt under one of the FLSA’s white collar overtime exemptions? If no, you should not be affected by the higher standard salary levels under the new rules. If yes, move on to the next question.
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by Anita Byer, President - The Human Equation
on 5/19/2016 They’re heeeere. No, not a poltergeist, though for many they may be just as unsettling. We’re talking about the new minimum wage and overtime exemption regulations for white collar employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The long-awaited Final Rule has been released and is scheduled for publication on May 23, 2016.
The Final Rule focuses primarily on salary and compensation levels for the executive, administrative, professional, outside sales and computer employee exemptions, which are the FLSA’s so-called white collar exemptions. Since the Final Rule is not identical to the proposed rule published on July 16, 2015, let’s look at some of the differences.
More... by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 4/14/2016 It’s been over two years since President Obama directed the Department of Labor (DOL) to update the ‘white-collar’ overtime exemption regulations under Fair Labor Standards Act, including the executive, administrative and professional exemptions. It’s been nearly a year since the public was first given an opportunity to see and comment on the DOL’s proposed revisions. (The DOL received 293,389 comments.) Now, it seems we are one (huge) step closer to new white-collar overtime exemption rules becoming a reality.
On March 14, 2016, the DOL’s final version of the revised overtime exemption regulations was submitted to the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Once the OMB completes its review, the final regulations will be published. After that, it’s just a matter of time.
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by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 3/9/2016 Are you a joint employer? According to the Department of Labor (DOL), instances of joint employment are increasing due to economic forces and technological advancements. Since joint employers may be held responsible for violations of various federal employment laws, like the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must know whether they may be involved in a potential joint employment situation.
More... by The Human Equation, Inc.
on 1/13/2016 Should employers be concerned that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) achieved record enforcement results in 2015? Yes! Enforcement of federal equal employment opportunity laws is essentially a zero-sum game. If the EEOC is winning, employers must be losing, and according to the EEOC’s 2015 Performance Report, employers have been losing a lot.
More... by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 10/20/2015 The Department of Labor (DOL) recently gave a free lesson about misclassifying employees as independent contractors under the FLSA.
Those failing this lesson may get another from the DOL, but it probably won’t be free. Since the DOL is making an effort to identify and remedy employee misclassification, employers should be doing the same.
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by Martin Salcedo, Esq. - The Human Equation
on 8/18/2015 In March 2014, President Obama directed the Secretary of Labor to “modernize and streamline” the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime exemption regulations governing executive, administrative and professional employees. On July 6, 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL) published its proposed regulatory changes to these so-called ‘white collar’ overtime exemptions, and despite their significance, they are quite simple.
The DOL essentially proposed three general changes to the white collar overtime exemptions.
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