Posts By Steven Bernstein

For some time now, business groups have been calling for a substantial overhaul of FMLA regulations that have proven to be unduly vague, cumbersome, and in some cases, completely out of touch with the realities of today’s workplace. It seems that those requests are no longer falling on deaf ears. On Feb. 11, the Department of Labor took a substantial step toward regulatory reform by publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register.

Once implemented, the final rules will contain regulatory language based upon comments submitted during the review process. Although a final set of new regulations is still months away, a spokesperson for the administration expressed her desire to implement changes by the end of President Bush’s term. The proposed rules …

USERRA, a federal law that protects the jobs of members of the uniformed services, has long been considered a dangerous trap for the unwary employer.
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A jury recently awarded nearly $1 million in damages to an Oregon National Guardsman discharged after seeking outside assistance to get his job back, based largely upon the timing of the employer’s discharge decision.
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USERRA Protection
The action was brought under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), which was enacted to protect the jobs of reservists, National Guard members and other members of the uniformed services.

The law codifies a series of statutes dating back to WWII, all of which were underpinned by the notion that our returning …