11/20/2008
Q. Our manufacturing company has a current job opening for an engineer. One of our employees who is on active duty in Iraq for six months learned of the position and would like to apply. Do we have to consider his application?
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11/18/2008
On Nov. 17, the U.S. Department of Labor finalized the first major overhaul of the FMLA regulations in 15 years. Some changes favor employers, but others will make FMLA compliance trickier than ever. Here's what's in store. BONUS! HR Specialist will hold an audio conference briefing to help you comply with the new regs.
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10/30/2008
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) grants service members re-employment rights when they notify their employers of their intent to return to work after being released from active duty. But what happens when an employer finds that its business needs have changed while the employee was on active duty? ...
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10/03/2008
Q. How long am I required to hold a position open for an employee who needs a leave due to military service? ...
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09/19/2008
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has limited the way state employees can sue the agencies where they work for violating their rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). State employees can’t go to federal court with their claims. Instead, they must sue in state court ...
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09/05/2008
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) controls how employers handle employees who also serve in the military. As the following case shows, federal appeals courts are losing patience with employers that don’t know or don’t follow USERRA’s strict rules for reemployment ...
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09/05/2008
While USERRA may be comprehensive and quite broad, there is at least one area that courts seem willing to concede can be changed. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has recently ruled that employees and employers who agree to arbitrate disputes can include USERRA claims in that arbitration agreement ...
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09/02/2008
On Jan. 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act, which grants new leave rights to employees with family members in the military. Because the NDAA amended the FMLA—not USERRA—the changes apply only to employers with 50 or more employees ...
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08/26/2008
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a settlement with the airline in a class-action suit brought by pilots who alleged that the company’s benefits-accrual practices violated USERRA. The settlement should be a wake-up call to employers: Now's the time to make sure your benefits policies don't discriminiate against military reservists and members of the National Guard.
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07/22/2008
The HEART Act is a new federal law that expands the retirement and pay benefits to which employees called to active military service are entitled. If you administer your organization's retirement plan or work with payroll, you need to know about the law's provisions. Our primer will get you started.
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06/11/2008
More and more former service members are using the benefits Congress provided when it passed USERRA. In a recent decision, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals excused a former service member from even the most minimal of requirements before filing suit. That case is clearly part of a trend, one that may lead to more litigation for organizations that employ veterans ...
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06/09/2008
When Sean Thornton, of Deltona, was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 2006, he asked Wal-Mart if he could return to his former job as a cashier. The retail chain refused, and Thornton sued, alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ...
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06/03/2008
A federal court has ruled that employees who believe their employers harass them because of their military status may file complaints under USERRA. The harassment angle breaks new legal ground. As more veterans return home from active duty, will it open the litigation floodgates?
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05/06/2008
If you aren’t careful, arbitration agreements can leave your company paying more, not less. That can happen when employees file a federal lawsuit regardless of an agreement requiring arbitration. Then the court has to decide whether the arbitration agreement is valid ...
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05/01/2008
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects members of the armed forces by allowing them to return to their jobs when their service ends. But USERRA has limits, applying only to service members who actually were employees when they went to serve ...
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