The Texas Workforce Commission ("TWC") has published the unemployment tax rates for 2011. The minimum tax rate increases from .72 percent to .78 percent. The maximum tax rate will drop from 8.60 percent to 8.25 percent. The average unemployment tax rate will increase from 1.83 to 2.03 percent and the average experience tax rate will be 1.96 percent.
Source: TWC Press Release
Reading an excellent article today from the National Law Journal entitled "How to Keep the Cloud From Bursting in Litigation" Under the Federal Rules and case law, counsel have an obligation to become sufficiently familiar with their client's ESI to comply with discovery duties to identify, preserve, and produce relevant information. Cloud computing poses three basic challenges. The first is to become fully familiar with the information transmitted to cloud-based service companies and the manner in which it is stored. The second is to understand the kind of access and control the company has to that information. The third challenge is to understand the cloud vendor's data-retention and destruction practices and policies, as well as backup procedures.
Pretty good article on an evolving topic that frankly, many employment lawyers are a little behind on.
You can read the full text here.
Today, the Supreme Court agreed to take a case in which it will decide whether the largest employment discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history should be allowed to go to trial. The sex discrimination case, which comes up from the Ninth Circuit, is based on a claim that Wal-Mart pays women less than men and promotes men more frequently than women.
The case involves billions of dollars in back pay for .5 to 1.5 million women who work or used to be employed by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is the world's largest private employer. The primary issue in the case is whether the class of plaintiffs is just simply too large to be effectively managed by the Court. The case will be closely watched because it will likely affect other class-action lawsuits.
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OSHA has issued serious and repeat citations to Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. at 9115 North Loop 1604 in San Antonio for lacking adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and deficient injury recordkeeping. Proposed penalties total $70,500.
"As a large, national employer with a history of OSHA inspections and citations at other facilities, we are disappointed to find so many of the same or similar hazards at this facility," said Jeff Funke, OSHA's area director in San Antonio. "It's imperative that this company and all employers adhere to safety and health standards to prevent worker injuries."
OSHA said it began an inspection on July 30, which found that an employee had suffered chemical burns due to lack of appropriate PPE and training for protective equipment.
Serious violations cited include:
A serious citation is issued when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Repeat violations cited include failure to ensure eye protection was used; failure to provide adequate eye wash and quick drenching facilities; failure to properly record and describe injuries on the OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping form; and improper certification of the form. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. However, at the time this inspection began, the current repeat violation policy was within the last three years.
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