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It’s That Time of Year

Guest post by: Betsey Nash

Article Overview: For an HR Professional, a new year often means lots of new laws, regulations, & legal changes. Betsey will share with you some things that you should be aware of as we enter 2011.

It’s That Time of Year

By the time you read this I will have attended two or three Legal Updates, the important ritual we HR types endure during December and January. I say "endure" because, geeky as I am about things HR, the presenter can make or break one of these sessions. Good luck so far this year; the lawyers have not lost their senses of humor yet. Since Schwarzenegger has been in Sacramento there has been little in the way of employment legislation to concern ourselves with. At the federal level, many in my field expected the Obama administration and Democratic Congress to unplug all the dammed up pro-employee legislation that was ignored or vetoed during the previous administration.

A few big things did happen that affect employers and employees. You may have heard about some health coverage reform, and the Ledbetter Act gave employees who had been illegally underpaid longer to discover the inequity and file a claim. I can't think of one thing that came out of Sacramento, but I am writing this from memory, so forgive me if I forgot something.

The content of these legal updates has been determined by the resolution of employment law court cases, which have certainly impacted the workplace, even if legislation has not.

Some examples include the Brinker Case - no, never mind: Although there have been some decisions relative to this case about rest and meal breaks, we HR pros and attorneys are advising our clients to continue to force your employees to take their meal and rest breaks.

Independent contractors are a major topic of interest in the courts, the IRS, workers comp, and the EDD. It is felt that too many workers are mis-classified, and that means fewer payroll taxes and many complicated injury and unemployment claims. As many as six different agencies weigh in on this issue.

Should interns be paid or not? The US Supreme Court reviewed this issue, along with Department of Labor opinions, and came up with six criteria for determining if your intern is really an employee, and again, should be subject to withholding, etc. Who benefits the most, is what it comes down to, and is real work being done, or just training. (Walling v. Portland Terminal Co)

Work at home or while commuting was the subject of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in March of last year. If the employer requires some significant prep work before an employee heads off to their first jobsite, then the employer might have to pay the employee for their time. Federal law holds that the job tasks before the start of the work day are not compensable, but the employees might have to be paid under California law. Clear? (Rutti v. Lojack Corp)

Then there's donning & doffing, on duty meal periods, text messaging and privacy, diversity, medical questionnaires, and clarification of the kin care law.

I have about two more Legal Updates to go, and I know at least one of the presenters is going to wonder aloud what will happen once Jerry Brown replaces Arnold. Stay tuned.

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Article Tags: legal changes, new laws, new year, time of year



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