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| As more and more employees use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, iPhones and blogs -- on work time -- it has hatched a host of crucial questions just beginning to be studied by experts. Already, about 43 percent of companies block access to social media on company-owned computers and handheld devices, according to a survey by Society for Human Resource Management. |
| (Source: Orlando Sentinel, 2012-02-02) |
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| At least 17 states recently raised the minimum wage or are considering doing so in 2012, the most in at least six years. President Obama has backed raising the U.S. basic wage from its current $7.25 an hour to $9.50 and indexing future automatic increases to inflation. |
| (Source: USA Today (free reg. req'd), 2012-02-02) |
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| A new study details the economic impact of harsh immigration laws such as those passed by Alabama and five other states. Dr. Samuel Addy, an economist and director of the Center, found that the law, known as HB 56, will annually shrink Alabama's economy by at least $2.3 billion and will cost the state not less than 70,000 jobs. |
| (Source: Bloomberg Businessweek, 2012-02-14) |
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| Before the ink dried on Gov. Mitch Daniels' signature making Indiana the 23rd "right to work" state in the nation, advocates on both sides were looking ahead to how the new law will affect Hoosiers. Supporters said businesses already were lining up to expand or come to Indiana. |
| (Source: Indianapolis Star, 2012-02-02) |
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| A federal judge's ruling against a Houston mother who says she was fired after asking for a place to pump breast milk has highlighted a question left unanswered by higher courts: Is firing a woman because she wants to pump at work sexual discrimination? In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes said it wouldn't be illegal even if Donnicia Venters and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were correct in assuming that Houston Funding, a debt collection agency, fired her because she'd asked to pump breast milk at work. |
| (Source: USA Today (free reg. req'd), 2012-02-10) |
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| Congressional negotiators reached a tentative deal to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits while avoiding a fee cut for Medicare doctors, according to Republican legislators and aides. It would be coupled with measures extending unemployment benefits and preventing a fee cut to Medicare doctors -- known in Washington as the "doc fix." |
| (Source: CNN.com, 2012-02-15) |
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| Signaling a sharp change of course in the country's largest international cultural exchange program, the State Department has banned a leading sponsor company from bringing foreign students to the United States for summer jobs and will add new restrictions to protect students from labor abuse, officials said. The removal of the sponsor, the Council for Educational Travel, USA, was intended to send a powerful message to dozens of private companies participating in the State Department's summer work program that they will have to monitor foreign students far more closely and ensure that participants are not exploited as cheap workers by employers. |
| (Source: The New York Times, 2012-02-01) |
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| The Department of Labor unveiled a final 401(k) fee disclosure rule that requires plan providers to give more details about what employers pay for retirement plan administration and other services. The enhanced disclosures required by the rule will increase transparency in the retirement plan market and encourage employers who sponsor the plans to "shop around for service providers," Phyllis Borzi, assistant secretary of the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Securities Administration, said on a call with reporters. |
| (Source: Reuters, 2012-02-02) |
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| At a time when young activists from Zucotti Park to Tahrir Square have shown what the Internet and social media can do to help organize people, some American unions have been taking notes. The AFL-CIO is embarking on a new advertising campaign that combines new and old technologies. |
| (Source: NPR, 2012-02-06) |
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| A recent lawsuit filed against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is drawing attention to the question of whether employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy when using personal email accounts on workplace computers. The lawsuit was filed by six whistleblowers at the FDA who allege that their private emails were extensively monitored after they began complaining to lawmakers about serious irregularities in the agency's medical device review process. |
| (Source: Computerworld, 2012-02-03) |
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| Pictures of carousing can come back to haunt you. An injured worker in Arkansas was denied an extension of disability benefits after his former employer and insurance company unearthed pictures from social networking sites that showed him "drinking and partying," according to the judge who turned down his appeal. |
| (Source: MSNBC, 2012-02-03) |
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Despite the best intentions of heartless employment lawyers everywhere, love still finds a way to blossom at work. According to CareerBuilder.com's annual Valentine's Day survey, some 38 percent of employees admit to dating someone from work, and a whopping 31 percent report making the matrimonial leap from co-worker to cohabiter. Although most relationships reported were among peers, some 28 percent of respondents report dating someone higher-up in the corporate food chain and 18 percent admit to dating their own boss.
But, as the callous among us must point out, even consensual relationships can have adverse consequences at work. Overt PDAs make witnesses uncomfortable (or slightly ill), supervisor/subordinate relationships inevitably spark cries of favoritism from others in the work group and, despite love's best intentions, chances are this too will end – and then what?
Read full article online. |
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As noted in our previous article, the Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations to catch-up with some statutory changes made in 2009. Those proposed amendments were published today, which opens the 60 day comment period. Written comments can be submitted to the proposed amendments on or before April 16, 2012, at www.regulations.gov. |
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Blue Monday?
The risk of non-fatal occupational injury is highest on Monday, and it decreases each day through the week, to its lowest point on Friday.
It is possible that some of these early in the week occupational injuries actually happened over the weekend, and were simply reported as occupational injuries on Monday. If you have any question about whether a particular injury actually happened at work or not, do a careful investigation and make sure your worker's compensation carrier or third party administrator is involved. You have 30 days to investigate before you have to make a decision.
If you have any questions, please contact an Ice Miller Workers’ Compensation attorney. |
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