As everyone knows by now, the federal government shut down at 12 a.m. after the House and the Obama Administration failed to reach agreement on the Affordable Care Act. Essential activities, such as law enforcement, air traffic control, and Social Security payments, will continue as usual. But non-essential activities, which would include most of what our employment-law agencies ...

Happy new year, everybody! Although I've been on vacation, the news never sleeps, and the Mayans were wrong. Accordingly, I have a few items to catch you up on.

"Ha-ha! We were just kidding!"

UPDATE: Thanks to reader John Perkins, SPHR, for the 2013 Mayan Calendar. Most educational!

"Near occasion of sin" is a legitimate ground for termination, Iowa court says. You've probably already ...