Recent Articles

Will COBRA Subsidy Be Extended?

October 21, 2009 14:16

As the end of the year approaches, Congress and President Obama are considering whether to extend several important economic benefits to help ease the effects of the recession. For instance, the tax credit for first-time homebuyers, an $8,000 credit that one economist says will have resulted in...

Working Fewer Hours for Less Pay

October 14, 2009 14:01

Layoffs have been much in the news for more than a year, and with good reason: Unemployment has reached 9.8%, and is expected to continue growing in the months to come. But lost jobs aren't the only employment story of the economic downturn. Many struggling companies are trying to get more for less...

Supreme Court Term Begins: Disparate Impact on the Docket (Again)

October 06, 2009 14:03

The Supreme Court began its 2009-2010 term yesterday. As a number of news reports have pointed out, there are a lot of business cases on the docket this time around, including a challenge to the accounting review board created by Sarbanes-Oxley. There are also a few cases with...

Stop Honking! Can't You See I'm on the Phone?

October 02, 2009 16:31

That was one of my favorite bumper stickers a few years ago -- and it's even more appropriate today, as more and more employers, states, and now even the federal government are regulating what drivers may do with their cell phones. Just last week, President Obama signed an executive order...

The Secret Ingredient at Cafe Gratitude

October 01, 2009 14:10

Those of us who live in the Bay Area are familiar with Cafe Gratitude, a small chain of raw food restaurants. These restaurants have a particular atmosphere and culture, one that feels very familiar to me as a local child of the 60s and 70s. I think of it as "control-freak hippie,"...

Proposed ADA Regulations Take a New Approach

September 29, 2009 16:26

In the ADA Amendments Act, which went into effect at the beginning of this year, Congress told the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) that it had defined the term "substantially limits" too narrowly, in a way that inappropriately restricted the number of people protected by...

Low Wage Worker Survey Reveals Widespread Wage and Hour Violations

September 25, 2009 16:44

Earlier this month, a report was released on a 2008 survey of low-wage workers in the cities of Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. The title of the report, "Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violations of Employment and Labor Laws in America's Cities," kind of gives away the ending. The...

It's a Man's, Man's, Man's, Mancession

September 19, 2009 16:23

Despite some signs of an economic rebound in the stock market, housing sales, and other areas, unemployment continues to rise. Earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the national unemployment rate has reached 9.7%. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the...

Senator Ted Kennedy Dies

August 26, 2009 16:02

Ted Kennedy, who died last night, was known as "the Lion of the Senate." He was also a true working class hero, or more accurately, a hero of the working class. He was one of my heroes as well. Every day, those of us who practice, write about, or apply employment laws are dealing with Senator...

Please Do Not Microchip the Employees (But Biometric Scanning May Be OK)

August 24, 2009 16:05

Did you know that at least four states have passed laws that prohibit mandatory or coerced microchipping, including installing a microchip or radio frequency identification (RFID) tag as a condition of employment? A number of states have legislation addressing the improper use of RFID tags or the...