The California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) has issued an opinion letter in which it concludes that California law does not prohibit an employer from temporarily reducing the work schedule of an exempt employee from five days a week to four days a week, and correspondingly reducing the employee’s salary by 20 percent. The
Washington Supreme Court Upholds Employer’s Right to Fire Workers who Protest Bad Boss
Sometimes the Washington Supreme Court pleasantly surprises employers. Today is one of those days. The Court issued its decision today in Briggs v. Nova Services. The plaintiffs in this case were eight employees of Nova Services, a non-profit social services organization in Washington. The employees apparently had major problems with the executive director who was appointed by
Oregon Supreme Court Allows Workers’ Comp Coverage for Gastric Bypass
This morning, in SAIF Corp. v. Sprague, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld the workers’ compensation claim of an employee who sought coverage for gastric bypass surgery, on the grounds that the surgery was necessary to treat a decades-old on-the-job knee injury.
Sprague injured his knee on the job in 1976, filed a workers’ comp claim, and
Professional Fibbers Unmasked! Fake Job Reference Sites Are Real, But What is the Cost?
“ABC News” “fake job reference” “fake job application” “Alibi HQ” “Career Excuse” “alibihq.com” “careerexcuse.com” applicant lies job employment “William Schmidt”
Continue Reading Professional Fibbers Unmasked! Fake Job Reference Sites Are Real, But What is the Cost?
Oregon Supreme Court Denies Employee’s Wrongful Discharge Claim for Reporting Unlawful Trade Practices
The Oregon Supreme Court has denied a car salesman’s wrongful discharge claim. In Lamson v. Crater Lake Motors, Inc., the salesman, Kevin Lamson, claimed he was terminated for complaining to his employer that an outside entity managing sales on his employer’s car lot was engaging in unlawful trade practices. Lamson refused to participate in special promotional events run
New proposed rule from Homeland Security will rescind the controversial no-match rule
One of G.W. Bush’s controversial acts as president was issuing the no-match rule. When employers pay social security taxes, the Social Security Administration (SSA) allocates a certain amount to each employee based on that employee’s social security number. All is well and good when the employer provided numbers match the numbers on file with the
Fake Job Reference Site Highlights Importance of Verifying Applicant References
As if navigating the world of employment issues was not hard enough already, today’s Consumerist highlighted a new service that purports to provide, among other things, fake job references. While I have not formed a conclusion as to whether the site is real or a sham (many of the internal links on the site
Oregon Court of Appeals Rejects Wrongful Discharge Claims for Health and Safety Retaliation
This morning the Oregon Court of Appeals rejected a plaintiff’s common-law wrongful discharge claim that she was terminated for reporting a health and safety violation. The Court ruled that the state and federal statutory remedies were adequate, and that she should have filed a statutory claim instead.
Plaintiff Andrea Deatherage was an employee of Super 8 Inn when
E-Verify Implementation on Track for September 8, 2009
Starting September 8, 2009, employers receiving federal contracts will be required to use the new E-Verify system to check their employees’ authorization to work in the United States. This announcement comes after several delayed attempts by the Bush and Obama administrations to implement the E-Verify rule; however, their efforts were thwarted by a stay issued
Employer Did Not Violate Title VII By Firing Employee For Wearing a Nose Ring
A Federal court in Florida has ruled that a Subway restaurant did not violate Title VII by firing an employee because she wore a nose ring, rejecting a claim by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for injunctive relief and punitive damages. Click here to read the court’s decision in EEOC v. Papin Enters. Inc.
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