The number of adults in the United States with an active social media presence has grown steadily over the last few years. In 2008, approximately 24% of the population used social media while today at least 81% of the population utilizes social media. As the number of people who use social media daily grows, more… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Employment Policies
Oregon Predictive Scheduling Laws for Service Industry Workers
Oregon joins Seattle, San Francisco, California, Emeryville, and New York City in developing a predictive scheduling law as an addition to its minimum wage rules. The provisions of instrument number S.B. 828 will start to take full effect on the 1st of July, 2018. The provisions are meant to regulate the way in which employers… Read More
California Rules Regarding 14 and 15 Year-Old Employees
Are 14-and 15-year olds legally allowed to work in California? The short answer is yes. However, there are strict federal regulations governing their hours and the types of jobs they are allowed to do. If you are a parent of a teen who wishes to make a few buck of his or her own money,… Read More
Nevada Bill Outlines Obligations to Employees Affected by Domestic Violence
Beginning in 2018, Nevada employees subject to domestic violence, whether experienced personally or amid household, will be entitled to accommodation from their employers. Specifically, Senate Bill 361 requires that those impacted by domestic violence be afforded leave on account of those circumstances. It also prohibits any kind of discrimination against said employees. Governor Brian Sandoval… Read More
Labor Management Relations Act
The Great Depression hit the United States hard. During the 1920s, Americans saw significant prosperity. Construction was booming, people were buying automobiles, and life was moving forward. The 1929 stock market crash sent shock waves through the U.S. economy, eventually leading to bank failures and Hoovervilles. In response to the Depression, President Roosevelt launched the… Read More
California’s Mandatory Rest Breaks
Are workers required to have periodic breaks during the workday? Ask Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. When workers were denied breaks every four hours, as required by California law, and also were not compensated for working during those required breaks, they went to the courts for a remedy. $4 million dollars later,… Read More
Are You Trapped in a Hostile Work Environment?
Hostility in the workplace is often overlooked and underreported because employees do not always recognize that they are working in a hostile environment. The legal criteria that needs to be met in order to classify a workplace as hostile is not widely known, discouraging the average person from reporting possible problems. No adult wants to… Read More
Can I Puff My Job Away Even if I’m Legally Smoking Marijuana?
When Colorado decriminalized the use of marijuana on January 1, 2014, many employees thought it would be safe to engage in their pastime on lunch breaks and outside work without fear of repercussions from their employer. After all, the citizens of that state scored an apparent victory by “legalizing” the use of pot. Unfortunately, employees… Read More
Working With Words: GM’s List of Banned Words for Employees
“Hindenburg,” “powder keg,” “Titanic,” and “apocalyptic.” These words probably aren’t banned in your office, but General Motors instructed employees to avoid using these and other words and phrases—68 total—in internal communications about safety issues. Words like “deathtrap,” “widowmaker,” and “rolling sarcophagus,” are out, as are phrases such as “This is a death trap waiting to… Read More
Some Government Employees Get to "Double Dip"
When the federal government shut down for sixteen days in October, it left approximately 400,000 employments across the United States effectively jobless. A small percentage of these employees applied for unemployment benefits during that time, and some of them were approved and actually received benefits. However, now that Congress approved back pay for the furloughed… Read More