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The Employer Handbook Blog

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“Hold our drink, feds.” New Jersey strikes deal for $15 minimum wage

By Darwinek – self-made using Image:Flag of New Jersey.svg and Image:USA New Jersey location map.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link On Wednesday, I blogged about how Democrats in the U.S. Senate were introducing a new bill to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour. Yesterday,…

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How can HR convince the C-Suite to purchase anti-harassment training in 2019?

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/share-price-stock-exchange-business-1013626/) It’s easier than you think. But, you need to speak the right language. And that language is money. In 2016, The EEOC Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace concluded that there is a compelling business case for stopping and preventing harassment.…

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New $15 minimum wage bill will be introduced in the Senate today.

Copyright Free – Stock Free images. Public Domain image dedication. CC0 1.0 Universal Licence – http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ For nearly ten years, from September 1, 1997 through July 23, 2007, the federal minimum wage was $5.15 per hour. Three times in the following two years, the minimum wage rose, settling in at $7.25 per…

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When can you fire the employee who just complained about discrimination or took FMLA leave?

Sarah Klockars-Clauser [CC BY-SA 2.0]Oh, I get it. You just clicked on this post for a friend. Well, on the one hand, I should thank you for your interest in this blog post. On the other, now I have to order a new fleet of computer servers since you’ve crashed…

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Need a refresher on providing break time for nursing moms at work?

Beukbeuk [Public domain], from Wikimedia CommonsI’ve got you covered. According to a recent New York Times article, it is “common among American employers” for companies not to “provide hourly workers with break time and a private place to pump.” Employers that don’t allow new moms time to pump at work…

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She was raped by her supervisor, the company suspended her and put the harasser back to work. How mad did this make a federal jury?

Ken Lund from Reno, NV, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia CommonsNope. Madder. Here’s more from the EEOC’s press release announcing the $850,000 jury verdict. A federal jury rendered a verdict on Dec. 19, 2018 awarding $850,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to a female farmworker at [an employer] in…

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Litigating against LGBT rights may win one case, but still be bad for business overall.

By Phillips 66 Company – http://hrcpdocctr.phillips66.com/HR_P66_Comm/Benefits/BenefitHighlights.pdf, Public Domain, Link Among Fortune 500 companies, 91% prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and 83% prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.  [Source] But, under federal law, circuit courts remain split as to whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964…

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Justice Kavanaugh’s first SCOTUS opinion may speak volumes on how he’ll decide the next big employment case

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsYesterday, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the opinion for a unanimous Supreme Court in a case called Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc.  Although the Court’s decision has nothing to do with employment law —…

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Now, about those federal courts running out of money this Friday…

AgnosticPreachersKid [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], from Wikimedia CommonsIt’s time we double down on yesterday’s doom and gloom. Yes, according to published reports, federal courts have enough money to operate normally until Friday. Then, it gets interesting. Here’s more from Bloomberg: The system has enough money left over from fees…

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How will a government shutdown and no quorum at the EEOC impact employers?

U.S. Government [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsAt midnight on December 22, 2018, the federal government shut down.  Well, not completely. But, a lot of federal employees are working without knowing when they may get paid. Plus, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is already operating on a contingency plan —…