The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has postponed the effective date of its employee rights posting rule. The new rule originally was scheduled to be in effect November 14, 2011. It would have required employers to post a notice in a conspicuous place advising employees of their rights under the National Labor Relation...
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Archive for the ‘Updates’ Category
NLRB Postpones Effective Date of Employee Rights Posting Rule
New Employment Protections for Domestic Violence Victims
Effective January 1, 2012, employees are protected from discrimination based on domestic or sexual violence victim status if known to their employer. Employers should take steps to revise policies and train managers regarding their obligations under the law. See Haw. Rev. Stat. Ch. 378. Information displayed on this website ...
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Civil Unions in Hawaii
Effective January 1, 2012, employers must provide parties in a civil union the same rights that they provide to married couples. This could include health insurance, Hawaii Family Leave entitlements, and benefits such as funeral leave and merchandise discounts, but may not include spousal benefits granted under federal law. ...
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Religious Organization Exemption and Ministerial Exception
The United States Supreme Court declined to review Spencer v. World Vision, Inc., in which the Ninth Circuit held that a humanitarian organization qualified as a religious corporation, association, or society. In Spencer, the Ninth Circuit upheld the grant of summary judgment in favor of World Vision, Inc. in claims brought by...
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Act 105, Session Laws of Hawaii, 2011 – suspends various excise tax deductions and exemptions, including deductions available to sublessors of real estate and deductions available to contractors.
From July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2013, sublessors will not be able to deduct amounts paid to a lessor from rental income received from a sublessee. Since many subleases allow excise taxes to be passed through to the sublessee, this law will effectively increase the taxes paid by many sublessees. Similarly, during the same ...
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USDOL Launches iPhone App To Help Employees Track Hours – May 9, 2011
The US Department of Labor launched a free application for iPhones to help employees independently track the hours they work. The Department issued a new release about the application: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/whd/WHD20110686.htm. The new application is significant, the release says, because instead of relying on t...
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Precautions for Social Media in the Workplace – May 9, 2011
Many applicants and employees use social media like Facebook, LinkedIn and/or Twitter. Employers should take some precautions in response to this development. Applicants: Using social media can help employers screen applicants. Social media often contains information that most employers may not use in making hiring decisions...
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SOX whistleblower provision does not protect leaks to the media – May 3, 2011
The whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act does not protect employees who leak information and documents to the media, according to Tides v. Boeing Co. (9th Cir. May 3, 2011). Nick Tides and Matt Neumann spoke to a newspaper reporter and forwarded the reporter internal e-mails and other company documents regarding con...
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When Employees Exceed Authorized Access – April 28, 2011
When do employees “exceed authorized access” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act? That happens when they obtain information from their employer’s computer and use it for a purpose that violates the employer’s restrictions on the use of that information, according to United States v. Nosal (9th Cir. April 28, 2011).
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Supreme Court Strengthens Arbitration – April 27, 2011
Employers that have arbitration agreements with employees should consider revising them. Employers without such agreements should review whether to adopt them. That is the lesson learned from the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion this morning in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion et ux., which strengthened the arbitration process....
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