Do ERISA regulations require all companies to offer a retirement plan?

Federal law does not require employers to offer retirement plans to their employees. If employers choose to offer retirement plans, they must follow strict guidelines regarding how the plans are managed, operated, and presented to employees. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is the law that governs all retirement plans in the United States.

→ Read More

When Is Overtime Pay Required on Weekends?

If someone works on the weekend, even if it’s not their normal shift, all that counts is the total number of hours worked that week. If it’s more than 40, overtime is due; if it’s less than 40, it’s probably not. The key determination is usually what scheduled hours make up the specific employee’s’regular working hours’ to reach 40 hours. Sometimes, this may seem unfair: employers may base a pay period so as to take advantage of back-to-back long shifts as being in separate pay periods.

→ Read More

Can I sue my employer for negligence or reckless behavior that injured me? What about workers comp?

Unless your employer did something to harm you on purpose, you generally are not going to be able to sue him for negligence, even if he was egregiously careless and reckless. This is because all states in the US have established a different system called workers’ compensation, which is an exclusive remedy system. Under the workers’ comp system, employers do have responsibility to their employees for work injury, but that responsibility comes under workers comp insurance and lawsuits aren’t permitted.

→ Read More

Employer Medical and Health Coverage of Stepchildren

Employer-provided health insurance does not always have to cover step-children, even though policies may generally cover biological and legally adopted children. Employer-provided health insurance only needs to cover those people that it specifically states it will cover, based upon company policy, employer plans, and state laws. When someone pays for “family coverage,” that coverage is necessarily based on a definition of “family” of legal relationships, such as those of blood, marriage, or adoption. If someone does not meet those specific definitions, they may not be covered by insurance, even if they are part of family” by modern —though non-legal —definitions.

→ Read More

California Pregnancy Disability Leave

Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, employers must provide up to four months of unpaid disability leave to women facing time off work due to pregnancy, childbirth and or/related medical conditions.

→ Read More

Violating Employers Social Networking Policy

Violating an employer’s social networking policy, like a violation of any other employer’s policy, is generally legal grounds for firing or other form of discipline. Most employee business social networking policies prohibit social networking on company time, or posting anything online that reflects negatively on the company. as well as any confidential company information. However, if a business’s social networking media policy covers too much ground, disciplining an employee for social networking activity may cause trouble for the employer.

→ Read More