2007 Workplace & Employment Law Update
Register Today!

As an HR professional, it is critical to be well versed in current employment laws and labor trends. Sign up today for early bird pricing and join your peers at Employers Group’s annual Workplace & Employment Law Update (WELU).

This year’s program will include break-out sessions on workplace issues and on employment laws. Attendees will take away at least 10 practical tips per presentation that can be immediately applied to Human Resources and company practices.

Learn the Top 10 Things you must know about…

Presenters include top employment attorneys and experts from throughout the state, including a plaintiff’s (or employee’s attorney) who will share unique “inside information” from the other side of workplace issues.

The program will also include a comprehensive review of all the important legislation from 2007 by Richard Simmons of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP. The good news is that he will be speaking at ALL SIX sessions this year!

Please visit us at www.employersgroup.com/WELU2007 for more information!

Visit the EG Booth at this year’s PIHRA Conference!

The 50th Annual PIHRA Conference & Exhibition takes place October 17th and 18th at the Long Beach Convention Center. Be sure to stop by the Employers Group booth in the Exhibit Hall – and (figuratively speaking) take off your shoes, relax awhile and “retreat” from the hustle and bustle! See first hand some of the changes taking place at EG, meet our client service staff and “Helpline” consultants, and mingle with other attendees. We are in space A431 near the entrance to the hall.

EG Participates in
Greater Los Angeles Business Alliance Event
And you’re invited to attend this free event!

On October 10, the Greater Los Angeles Business Alliance (G.L.A.B.A.) is hosting a “Business Resources for Success” 2007 Business Retention Summit, which will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at The Center at Cathedral Plaza, 555 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

This free event, with a complimentary luncheon included, will feature keynote speaker Kerri Rogers, Vice President, Business Assistance and Development for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. Employers Group will provide the other two speakers, who will cover: (1) “Workplace & Employment Law Update” and (2)“Taking Control of your Workers’ Comp Costs.”

For information and reservations, please call G.L.A.B.A. at 626.960.3964 or email Jorge.hernandez@laworks.org. Parking for this event will be $10.

EG Submits Position Paper to DLSE
re Meal and Rest Periods

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) held two Public Forums to provide the public an opportunity to inform the newly appointed California State Labor Commissioner, Angela Bradstreet of their concerns about how recent changes to the meal and rest period enforcement practices – required by legislation and recent court decisions – have impacted their daily work lives.

Below is Employers Group’s position paper on this issue, which was personally presented (in public comments and this written document) by Employers Group’s President and CEO Mark Wilbur to the California State Labor Commissioner on August 9, 2007:

The Employers Group, a non-profit human resources association, is one of the largest associations of its kind in the United States. Our charter is to help our 3,500 California- based member companies manage their human resources function. Employers Group has been providing services to California employers for 111 years; our membership crosses all industries and includes small, mid-sized, and large employers, both union and non-union.

The association’s most popular member service is its Consulting Helpline. We answer thousands of questions from employers every year. The vast majority of questions we receive concern California-specific employment law questions, and most of these involve Wage and Hour issues, and especially compliance with California’s meal and rest period rules. These compliance questions are a source of enormous irritation to both employers and employees.

The vast majority of employers allow employees to take meal and rest periods (and would do so without state regulation). Practically all employers post their IWC Order (which contains these rules) and many provide for them in employee handbooks.

The real issue: loss of flexibility
The issue for the state’s employees and employers is not that these rest and meal periods are not being taken, but that the rigidity with which the state’s regulations are being applied, coupled with the threat of litigation and the available penalties eliminate any flexibility to the point that employers feel they are in straight jackets. And employees, (who our experience shows, want and need flexibility even more than their employers) feel they are being treated like children.

A loss of flexibility is even more acute for employees on longer shifts. Imagine the frustration for an employee who works a shift longer than 12 hours and can spend even less time at home because he/she must take a second duty-free meal period at work. Employees who would prefer to take their meal period later in a shift, or have an on-duty lunch so that they might leave work earlier have no alternative.

In nearly every case, we have found that such flexibility was requested by the employees themselves. This is really not hard to understand in the context of today’s working world. Study after study has shown that employees today want more latitude and control over their work schedule, and that the American worker wants more flexibility in their work/life balance. This is true for families with two working parents, where both are juggling obligations at work and home, as well as for single parents who are doing the same. The message is clear: personal time is of the utmost concern to employees.

With this need for greater flexibility in personal time, one can imagine the unhappiness and frustration of the employee when the employer has to explain that the “protective regulations” of California preclude such personal considerations. That’s exactly what more and more California employers are telling their workers because the present enforcement policy of the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) – that the obligation to must “provide” a meal period and to “authorize and permit” a rest period to mean that the employee must actually take these periods – leaves the employer no choice. In short, true personal flexibility is simply not available.

We, at Employers Group, cannot emphasize enough that the vast majority of questions we get about waiving a meal period originates from the person who most needs and wants flexibility – the employee. This request is, indeed, the most employee-generated question we receive from our employer members, bar none. And, it is usually with a sigh of resignation that these employers realize that they have to deny this flexibility to their employees. How long will it take California to wake up and recognize the needs of the 21st Century workforce?

Are your Compensation Practices Helping
Recruit and Retain your IT and Engineering Employees?

Introducing the
2007 Information Technology & Engineering Compensation Survey

The Employers Group would like to introduce our brand new IT and Engineering Compensation Survey! We’ve improved our popular National IT Compensation Survey by including over 130 Engineering job classifications. The result: the largest and most comprehensive technical survey in the U.S.! Whether you have 2 or 200 IT or Engineering jobs, this survey will help your firm to properly benchmark compensation practices. With more than 1,500 participants and 270 job classifications, now is the time to buy! PLUS, as an Employers Group member, you’ll receive the Pre-publish 10% Discount! Receive the full US/California edition (Book and CD-ROM) for $130.50 (Orig. Price $145).

About the Survey:
With 240 IT and engineering jobs, the IT & Engineering Compensation Survey covers all of California’s major metropolitan areas, including San Diego, Northern California, Metro Los Angeles. No other survey gives you the level of detail that you get with our survey. Similar surveys can cost up to $1,500; with your participation, we guarantee that your company will have one of the best resources for local and national salaries for IT and engineering jobs at no cost.

SURVEY SCOPE:

• This nationwide survey covers over 270 job classifications in nine geographic locations!
  
  
• Also the U.S./CA edition includes information from Northern California, Metro Los Angeles and San Diego.
  
  
• Data is analyzed by Base Salary; Weighted Average; and Percentiles, Salary Ranges; Minimum, Midpoint, and Maximum, Bonus/Incentive Compensation; Target Bonus and Actual Annual Bonuses.

U.S./CA Edition CD Only: $130.50– (Regular price: $145)

Hurry! Offer Expires October 15, 2007!

CLICK HERE TO PLACE YOUR ORDER!

If you have any questions about this survey please contact us at 213.765.3935 or e-mail us at surveys@employersgroup.com.