| Employer Liability for Workplace Violence |
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| Although the term "workplace violence" may conjure images of an armed disgruntled employee entering his or her current or former place of work and opening fire on supervisors or fellow employees, such incidents make up a very small percentage of all workplace violence. Much more common are harassment and intimidation, assault, robbery, and even spousal violence directed towards employees in the workplace, which contribute to over 1,000 workplace homicides per year and thousands more injuries. For cases that evolve into lawsuits, the average settlement for an incident of workplace violence is $500,000 and the average jury award is $3 million. More... |
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| Unemployment Insurance -- Reform |
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| Through the years, there have been a number of calls to reform the unemployment insurance program. These proposed reforms have included providing the program with additional funding, changing how that funding is used, and redirecting oversight of the program.More... |
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| ERISA-Exempt Benefit Plans |
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| The Employee Retirement Income Security Act imposes responsibilities on employers who offer benefit plans to their employees and provides certain rules and regulations concerning the administration of the plans. The rules that govern plans differ depending on the type of plan offered by the employer. Some plans, however, are not governed by ERISA and are called "exempt plans."More... |
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| Hatch Act for Federal Government Employees |
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| In 1939, Congress passed the Hatch Act to limit the political activities of federal employees, District of Columbia employees, and certain state and local government employees. The principle behind the Hatch Act is that certain partisan activities by governmental employees could effect the actual or perceived fairness and effectiveness of government. In 1993, Congress amended the Hatch Act to broaden the types of political activities in which governmental employees could participate. This article summarizes the application of the Hatch Act to federal employees. More... |
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| Employer Monitoring of Employee's Electronic Communications |
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| Several decades ago, the question of whether employers could monitor employees' communications was relatively simple. It was fairly well established that while employers could monitor business calls, they could not, with a few limited exceptions, eavesdrop on employees' personal phone calls. Today, employee communication has become high tech..More... |
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