Yesterday, I started recapping some stories from 2008 that never quite made it into full-fledged blog posts, but were worth a look at.
Before we move on to new subjects for the new year, I’ll recap a few more stories that are worth taking a look at that you might have missed.
- Perhaps it’s a bit of a sad commentary on today’s workplace when an employer gets favorable press for doing something that should be natural, but Walgreen’s is getting kudos for building a distribution center in Windsor Connecticut that will allocate one-third of its jobs to people with cognitive and physical disabilities. Here’s some press it received for a similar plant in South Carolina.
- With all the press that the new ADA Amendments Act has received, you might have missed the new regulations on religious discrimination issued by the EEOC in late summer. The Delaware Employment Law Post has a link and notes that the guidance contains some best practices for employers. It’ll be interesting to see whether the new administration will reverse or modify some of these regulations in the upcoming year.
- Protecting confidential health information is yet another requirement for human resources professionals to follow. The Effortless HR blog had this post reminding everyone of the importance of doing so with some suggestions on how to get into compliance.
- Considering adopting a blogging policy? This post, by the Golden Practices blog, captures some of the issues that a company can consider when drafting one.
- Do you understand FLSA’s Tip Credit and Tip Pooling Rules? They are admittedly complicated. My former colleague, Richard Tuschman, does a good job explaining them in his Florida Employment Law Blog.
- With the new session of the Connecticut General Assembly scheduled to start later this month, you can catch up on the legislative developments from 2008 with summaries from various agencies. A listing of each summary is available here.
- When conducting reductions in force, employers may decide to include severance agreements. Jon Hyman reminds us of the importance of defining the proper "decisional unit" to comply with OWBPA. And strict compliance with the OWBPA is required by many courts nowadays.
- For HR professionals, should you adopt a "no jerks" rule? Or is it a fatal mistake? This article from earlier this year suggests keeping an open mind to hiring. (Of course, from an employment lawyer’s perspective, it is these "jerks" that sometimes lead to lawsuits…)
- Workplace investigations continue to receive lots of play among blogs and newspapers. Who should be conducting these investigations is the subject of this interesting article by Shaw Valenza.
- Earlier this year, the ABA put out its annual list of 60 websites that lawyers and those interested in law-related items should look at. It’s definitely worth a look at to make sure you are up-to-date on all the useful tools out there.
And there you have it. Now, on to 2009.
