The Department of Labor recently issued an opinion letter (see FLSA 2006-7) to a lawyer in response to his letter asking whether his client, an employer, would violate the salary basis test if fines were imposed, in the form of deductions from the salaries of exempt employees, for damages to, or loss of, equipment such as laptop computers that the exempt employees used in the performance of their jobs.
A steady, decade-long decline in workplace drug use has ended. A provider of employer drug-testing services reports that its semi-annual Drug Testing Index shows drug use in the U.S. went up in 2000.
When an oil tanker hit the rocks near Valdez, Alaska, sending its cargo spewing into the sea, many were shocked to learn that the captain was impaired by alcohol. The real surprise, though, is that he is not alone. Captains in all industries sometimes turn to substances to deal with stress in life or on the job.
In the face of rising public suspicion and investor mistrust, the nation's top corporations are scrutinizing candidates for their upper positions with a level of intensity never seen before.
A growing segment of the business community is moving away from drug testing. In 1996, four of every five major U.S. companies required a drug test as a condition of employment. Now, that has dwindled to two of every three.
Mandatory mental-health exams, originally confined to police officers, airline pilots, and others working in life-or-death situations, may become a new focus of employment litigation as they gain wider usage.
Despite the widespread use of pre-employment testing, anxiety continues to surround the use of these tests due to legal issues, which are largely complicated and difficult to understand.
Personality testing can help match an employee’s values and behavior characteristics with those of the organization. But, if not done wisely, there’s a good possibility that problems will emerge that could negatively impact the entire workplace.
