The use of credit information, including credit history, as a screening tool by employers is common. A 2012 SHRM study found that nearly half of all employers check job applicants’ credit history as part of the hiring process. Employer credit checks are also the reason many job seekers remain unemployed. A 2012 Demos study found Read more
Many California employers are busy this month revising their compensation programs for their commissioned inside sales persons. That’s because a California Appellate Court has just determined that inside sales persons who are paid based purely on a draw from sales commissions are not being fairly compensated for their work. More specifically, the Court decided that Read more
Predictable incomes, stable work schedules Today, providing employees with predictable incomes, stable work schedules, and the opportunity to work additional hours if available, is becoming a growing priority. Already, the City of San Francisco has an employees’ “Bill of Rights” law that ensures workers are given their work schedules in advance and have first access Read more
Criminal History Assessment Last January, employers in Los Angeles, CA, were required to post a new notice in the workplace informing employees of the City’s recent “ban the box” law. The “ban the box” law refers to the City’s Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance which prohibits employers with 10 or more employees from asking Read more
Nationwide, “ban the box” laws are being adopted with increasing frequency. Broadly speaking, these laws prohibit employers from considering an applicant’s or employee’s criminal history in making employment decisions until a certain point in the hiring or deliberation process. Currently, 25 states, the District of Columbia, and many metropolitan areas have adopted ban-the-box type laws. Read more
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries is hoping all employers will give its two new free phone apps a try: the Good Observation, Near-Miss and Accident Reporting App and the SafeMe App. We took them for a spin and give them both two-thumbs up! Good Observation, Near-Miss and Accident Reporting App The Good Read more
The ADEA & Disparate Impact The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits employment discrimination against persons over the age of forty. One way an employee can demonstrate age discrimination is by showing that a specific employer policy or practice has a “disparate impact” on members of the protected class. For example, a particular hiring Read more
Rounding Practices Frequently, employers’ timekeeping practices include “rounding policies” and “grace periods”. These policies permit employees’ clock-in time to be adjusted around start and stopping work times for administrative purposes. If an employer has a quarter-hour “rounding policy,” employee time is rounded to the nearest quarter hour. Therefore, an employee who clocks in at 8:07 Read more
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal/OSHA, leads the way in protecting workers from heat exposure in outdoor places of employment. For years, Cal/OSHA has campaigned to raise awareness of outdoor heat exposure and improve the working conditions of outdoor laborers. That focus led Cal/OSHA to release new outdoor heat regulations Read more
Each year, more states and communities are requiring employers to provide their workers with sick leave benefits to care for themselves or family members who are ill or injured. This year, Illinois follows the trend with its own Employee Sick Leave Act. The Act doesn’t give workers any additional time off, but it does require Read more
