Alert California Employers! New State Laws and Their Impact

by Stephen Koppekin | Jan 3, 2019 | Labor

Alert California Employers! 2019 brings many important changes that affect the workplace with some new state laws. These new laws will provide added protections for workers but create new liabilities for employers. The laws give more benefits to the workers but...

For Parties Affected by the California Wildfires, the Department of Labor Issues Relief Guidelines

by Stephen Koppekin | Dec 4, 2018 | Labor, News, Stephen Koppekin, Workplace Policies

Amid the most destructive wildfire season in California history, the US Department of Labor (DOL) has unveiled relief measures to support those affected. The DOL declared in November a comprehensive relief effort spanning several agencies, including the Office of...

California, Illinois, and Other States Adopt New Employee Business Expense Reimbursement Provisions

by Stephen Koppekin | Nov 26, 2018 | Business, Labor, News, Stephen Koppekin

Starting in 2019, Illinois will join California, New York, Washington D.C. Montana, Massachusetts, Iowa and Pennsylvania in enacting legal provisions requiring employers to reimburse business-related expenses. The change results from an amendment to the Illinois Wage...

Humor in the Workplace: What Managers Should Know

by Stephen Koppekin | Apr 21, 2017 | Business, Email Etiquette, Labor, Stephen Koppekin, Tips for Employers, Wellness, Workplace Policies

When in a work environment, it can be easy to rely on humor to create and maintain working relationships with your employees. While certain environments will permit humor more than others, it’s critical that a company’s leadership team has a firm handle on what is and...

Employers Beware! NLRB Issues New Standards for Joint Employers

by Stephen Koppekin | Apr 18, 2017 | Business, Labor, News, Stephen Koppekin, Tips for Employers, Unions, Workplace Policies

Within the past month, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has initiated a shift in its philosophy on what constitutes a joint employer relationship. Until now, the NLRB’s standard for joint-employer status was for an entity to exert actual direct control over...

A Brief History of the Department of Labor

by Stephen Koppekin | Apr 4, 2017 | Labor, Stephen Koppekin

America’s first step toward creating the Department of Labor as we know it today took place in 1884 with the passage of Bureau of Labor Act. That law created the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to gather data on labor and employment in the country; BLS still exists...