Newsletter Archive for July 2011

Does FMLA Cover Dad Who Went to Texas While Child Was in Miami?

On April 12, 2008, the employee returned to the family’s home in Texas while his wife remained in Miami with their daughter as she recovered. The employee did not alert anyone at the company of his return to Texas or report to work. At his deposition, he testified that he returned home because he received calls from his neighborhood association complaining about his untended yard. Read More

Higher Private Sector Pay Increases Likely, BNA Index Signals

In June, private sector employers added 57,000 jobs to payrolls, but government eliminated 39,000, the Department of Labor reported.
Kobe expects the rate of annual wage growth for wage and salary workers to improve to about 2 percent versus the 1.6 percent gain in first-quarter 2011, according to DOL’s latest employment cost index (62 BTM 149, 5/10/11). Read More

Does Manager Fired After Reporting Tumor Have ADA Claim?

On June 10, the superior partner began conducting a semiannual financial audit of the manager’s restaurant, and discovered that some tipped employees’ clock-out times occurred before their check-out times. Checking out requires tipped employees to enter the evening’s tips, print out a check-out slip, and deliver the slip to a manager. Generally, check outs should occur before clock out. Read More

Employers Rethinking Retiree Health Care, Conference Told

Employers anticipate increased compliance burdens but see health insurance exchanges as an opportunity to get out of the pre-65 retiree health benefit business, panelists said June 16 at an insurance industry conference. Read More

Mass Layoffs Up, But Number of Workers Involved Dips

The number of mass layoff events increased in May from April, but fewer workers lost their jobs in these events than the month before, according to figures released June 22 by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

BLS reported that there were 1,599 mass layoff actions in May, 35 more than in April. However, the total number of workers involved in these events declined by 387 to a total of 143,540 workers. Read More