While the temperature hasn’t felt like summer in Connecticut the last few days, judging by the traffic this morning, there are lots of you on vacation this week.
If you’re one of the (un)lucky ones working this week, perhaps you have a few extra minutes to tackle some projects that have been on the back
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been seeing more tweets from human resources types and mainstream reporters using the phrase “wage theft”. Two recent examples? William Tincup (who runs the popular online DriveThruHR show that I appeared on a while ago) recently tweeted:
RT Wage Theft Another Assault on Workers’ Compensation http://t.co/iXmbHnASUL @jongelman
— William Tincup, SPHR (@williamtincup) April 23, 2014
And The New York Times labor reporter, Steven Greenhouse yesterday tweeted:
NYT Editorial: Wage Theft Across the Board–Sorry to say, wage theft hits low-wage & middle-class workers alike. http://t.co/4xnMqgtyEr
— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) April 22, 2014
Yes, even The New York Times Editorial Board is beginning to use the term with surprising carelessness suggesting “law enforcement officials” (a term typically reserved for police officers, not Department of Labor officials) routinely use it.
It’s time for employers to beware this phrase and fight its usage because, in my view, it’s really an attempt to turn something often unintentional, into something nefarious and intentional.
Or as Mandy Patinkin’s character in The Princess Bride said: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
What DO I mean? Well, think of the word, “theft” and most of us think of the intentional taking of something that belongs to someone else. Like your jewelry, or your iPhone. Even your company’s trade secrets.Continue Reading “Wage Theft”: The Trendy Phrase That May Not Mean What You Think It Means
I’ve long since preached about the need for ongoing sexual harassment prevention training.
My new firm, Shipman & Goodwin LLP has a series of trainings scheduled that should hopefully fit your schedule if you or your employees have a need for such training.
The next one is scheduled for August 27th in Hartford from
Update: On April 17, 2012, the NLRB announced an indefinite postponement of the rule. See updated post here.
Just when you thought things were settled, a federal court in South Carolina late Friday ruled that the NLRB overstepped its authority when it set forth rules requiring employers to post notices about federal labor laws.
Which
Yesterday, I discussed the carryover rule that requires employers to allow service workers to carry over up to five days of paid sick leave each year.
But a loyal blog reader posed the following question to me: Suppose you are
Heard of the popular show, "A Minute to Win It"? Well to borrow from the title, for health care professionals (doctors offices and hospitals in particular), you’re playing a much more dangerous game "a Minute to Lose It".
What is "it"? It is patient data. And right now it continues to be at risk every
The next month or two will certainly be interesting around the workplace. The H1N1 Virus continues to spread around the country, a new vaccine is ready to be rolled out that experts hope will stave off further infections. And employers are, in some cases, holding their collective breath that the vaccine wins out so
One of the great mysteries in the employment law arena is what is "gross misconduct" under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).
A provocative article published in the latest "The Labor Lawyer" (a publication of the American Bar Association) answers that question by providing a fair
ly thorough summary of how courts
Two articles that I’ve come across over the last week have sparked my interest in the question of what impact cloud computing has on employment law.
Realizing that there are several of you who may think "cloud computing" is simply using your laptop on your next airline flight, let’s start with a discussion of cloud
I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to suggest that 2009 brings about some of the broadest changes to employment laws in the United States this decade. So
me changes are already known, while others are forecasted to occur.
Michael Moore, over at the Pennsylvania Labor & Employment Blog, has an excellent