Source: https://eeotraining.eeoc.gov Yep, it’s that time of year. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Training Institute is hosting its Examining Conflicts in Employment Laws (EXCEL) Training Conference in Washington, DC. The EEOC touts EXCEL as “the premier national training conference for federal and private sector EEO managers, supervisors, practitioners, HR professionals, attorneys and Alternative…
Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/mail-message-email-send-message-1454731/) In 2014, the National Labor Relations Board ruled here in a case called Purple Communications that employees can use company email to try to form a union. Specifically, the Board held that “employee use of email for statutorily protected communication on nonworking time must presumptively be permitted…
Image Credit: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trileptal_tablets.jpg) CC BY-SA 3.0, Link During this July 4th holiday week, I don’t expect many of you to read this blog. So, thank you to those who do stick around. And, come mid-week, I’ll set off some legal backyard fireworks in your honor. ***Updates shopping list*** And I’ll bring my…
Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/update-upgrade-renew-improve-1672346/) If you’re new to the field, you’ll have to take our word on it. But, HR-compliance professionals know that drafting an employee handbook that is 100% compliant got a lot tougher over the past several years. Let’s forget about paid-sick-leave laws, ban-the-box, and other state/local law matters.…
Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/eyes-surprise-wow-expression-open-312093/) Yesterday morning, I read my friend Jon Hyman’s post on LinkedIn about a lawsuit in which a person of color alleged that various supervisors and managers: Frequently called him the “n-word”; Told him to “reach his black hands out” while handing him a box; and Offered him a…
Image Credit: PXhere.com (https://pxhere.com/en/photo/854901) Well, there’s always a chance the court might, you know, enforce it. You think? Actually, the employer almost got away with it had it not been for those meddling kids the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Here’s what happened: A plaintiff sued her former employer in…
By Photograph by Franz Jantzen, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsSure, I can do that for you. First, we need some music. Godsmack? Celine Dion? Billy Idol? Nah, let’s go with Whitesnake. Give it to me in a nutshell, Eric. I want it…
By Soberconnections [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia CommonsFolks, I’m warning you, this is a tough one. The ADA, illegal drugs, legal drugs. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employer must provide a reasonable accommodation (if available) to a qualified individual with a disability upon request if doing so will…
Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/nurse-temperature-thermometer-309731/) [UPDATED (12:30 PM Eastern): I made a few mistakes in the original post that I am correcting now. First, the link to the paid sick leave law was to a prior version of the law. I corrected that with an updated link. Second, employees can accrue…
Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/gabriel-moral-illustration-art-2519793/) I haven’t seen Avengers: Infinity War yet. So, no spoilers here. But, I imagine that even if the good guys can combine forces to beat the comic villains, they would still lack the legal acumen to master employee benefits. For that my friends, you need a real…