March 4, 2010 marked the First Crossover date whereby bills introduced this session had to crossover to the other house in order to remain alive. This article highlights some bills that are of general interest to employers. A full list of all bills that Hawaii Employers Council is tracking may be viewed on our Legislative Digest. Read more

HEC members should save their money and access the updated Required Bulletin Board Posters and Notices here, or under Publications/Guides and Research Reports. Read more

Legislation to extend the eligibility for subsidized COBRA to employees who are involuntarily terminated up to March 31, 2010, was signed by President Obama on March 2. Read more

In February 2010, the Internal Revenue Service began randomly selecting up to 2,000 employers over the next three years for a payroll tax audit, and employers are advised to check whether workers are properly classified as employees or independent contractors. Read more

Private companies can now enroll in the Social Security Administration’s Consent-Based Social Security Number Verification Service to obtain instant, automated SSN verification and handle large volume requests for a fee. Read more

A 69-year-old manager who was terminated for “non-compliance” with the employer’s sexual harassment policy and replaced by a younger worker cannot show that this was a pretext for age discrimination, despite a comment alleged to be made by chief operating officer that the manager was an “old, gray-haired fart.” Read more

An hourly worker who admitted that he failed to record his time accurately, despite a company policy requiring him to do so, can proceed on his claim that he was not properly compensated for his overtime worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act, rules a federal court in Florida. Read more

The contradiction showing U.S. employment and unemployment both going up in January is one of several complex aspects of the labor market’s road from recession to recovery, The Conference Board reports. Read more

On Friday, February 26, 2010, HB 2169 HD2, which gives employers a two-year reduction in unemployment insurance (“UI”) taxes, was heard by the Senate Labor (“LBR”) and Ways and Means (“WAM”) committees. The committees approved the bill and suggested no amendments. Read more

Requiring wait staff to pool and share tips with kitchen or “back of the house” employees does not violate the Fair Labor Standards Act if the employer is not taking the tip credit to pay tipped employees less than the minimum wage, the Ninth Circuit declares. Read more

A probationary firefighter trainee fails to establish a discrimination claim after she was terminated for posting unauthorized pictures of her fire department, as well as modeling pictures of herself on her MySpace page, according to the Eleventh Circuit. Read more

An employer is not entitled to the Faragher/Ellerth affirmative defense if the complaint is made to a supervisor who was also the alleged harasser, even though the company’s sexual harassment policy provides that the victim could have complained to others besides the supervisor, the Second Circuit rules.
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Two U.S. Dept. of Transportation rules go into effect Feb. 25, of which authorizes employers in the DOT’s drug and alcohol testing program to disclose to State commercial driver licensing authorities the drug and alcohol violations of employees who hold CDLs and operate commercial motor vehicles, when a State law requires such reporting. Read more

Favorable opinions of unions have fallen across demographic and partisan groups, according to the latest nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
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Hiring through a staffing agency may not be the cost-saving alternative to hiring regular employees, says management consultant Lester Rosen.
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