The overwhelming majority of employers maintain personnel files on their employees and police officers are no exception. The question is; what rules govern these files and what, if any, is the importance of the information contained in them? The most obvious concern regarding the information contained in a personnel file is what impact it may have when an individual decides to change jobs. In many instances a potential employer will require an applicant to sign a waiver allowing contact with a former employee and this waiver may include a review of a personnel file.

San Francisco Reinstates Suspended Officers, DOL Publishes Final Regulations Implementing USERRA, AFL-CIO Takes Position on Alito, New Orleans Officers Face More Questions Regarding Conduct, Transit Union Approves Contract, Approval of FMLA Leave May Not Protect Against Termination

In an opinion issued on November 8, 2005 in IBF Inc. v. Alvarez, the United States Supreme Court resolved a conflict between two Circuit Courts on the issue of what constitutes "compensable time" under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

With this amendment, the Illinois Human Rights Act now declares that  it is the public policy of Illinois "to secure for all individuals within Illinois the freedom from discrimination against any individual because of his or her race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, physical or mental handicap, military status, sexual orientation, or unfavorable discharge from military service in connection with employment, real estate transactions, access to financial credit, and the availability of public accommodations." 

Do we now have the long awaited answer to the question of whether police officers can take compensatory time off on demand?

Did you know that the Department of Health and Human Services considers your Health Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA) covered by the HIPAA privacy rules? 

After weeks of rumors of police officers having abandoned their posts before, during and after Hurricane Katrina, the City of New Orleans has fired over fifty police officers and six civilian employees for allegedly having done so. 

The State of Illinois has recently passed legislation purporting to make communications between union agents and the members they represent "privileged."

The Supreme Court of Alaska ruled that it violated the state constitution to withhold benefits to public employees' same-sex partners. 

Among the hotter controversies in labor is whether a private employer may spend public money to fight its employees' efforts at unionizing. 

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that three female employees of a teachers union could recover under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for sex-based discrimination even though there was no evidence of lust or sexual animus toward the women.