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The Employer Handbook BlogWill the Supreme Court be the hero that employers need for their class-action waivers?
Is it just me, or do you guys also quote Varsity Blues whenever you hear the Foo Fighters sing My Hero?
Soon, all employers may be forbidden from asking about a job applicant’s salary history
Last month, Massachusetts passed a new law, which will take effect in July 2018, and make it illegal for employers to ask about a job applicant’s salary history before making an offer of employment. As Stacy Cowley at The New York Times reports (here), the impetus for the new law is to reduce the wage gap between men and women:
By barring companies from asking prospective employees how much they earned at their last jobs, Massachusetts will ensure that the historically lower wages and salaries assigned to women and minorities do not follow them for their entire careers. Companies tend to set salaries for new hires using their previous pay as a base line.
Now, three members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, the first woman to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), plan to introduce similar legislation federally.
Yes, the NLRB will also clobber unions who punish social media complainers
And, you’ll have to excuse me for not clutching my pearls.
Arm the torpedoes! Full speed ahead with lawsuit against new DOL overtime rules!
There are 85 days left until the new U.S. Department of Labor overtime rules take effect. However, according the a recent report from Chris Opfer and Ben Penn at Bloomberg BNA (here; subscription required), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is ready to sue.
While you may not need a masters in FMLA, spotting leave requests can be tough
Happy belated Labor Day.
Did you have a nice weekend? My family took a little road trip down to Baltimore on Sunday for baseball game. While tempted to leave my first-born behind for wearing a Yankees t-shirt and hat — where did I go wrong as a parent? — I nonetheless enjoyed America’s Pastime and my son left Oriole Park at Camden Yards with a little something extra.
Well, back to boring reality. It’s FMLA time.
165,000 reasons to remember that associational discrimination violates the ADA
165,000 reasons meaning 165,000 dollars. But, you probably figured that out.
Continue reading
This, right here, is why a good workplace investigation is EVERYTHING!
You received a complaint of sexual harassment from a female employee against a male co-worker.
So, you promptly investigate, during which you interview the complainant and the alleged harasser, and review documents. When the investigation ends, you conclude that the female complainant — not the male co-worker — was the sexual harasser. So, you promptly fire the female employee.
Legally, did you do anything wrong? Well, notwithstanding the factual twist, it doesn’t seem that way. But things aren’t always as they seem. And I’d get a day off from blogging if this one were that straightforward
Can you sue an employee for filing what seems to be a false EEOC charge?
There was a time when I got that question from employer-clients more times than Tony Romo’s chokes in December.
Today’s Special: Retaliation. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know.
Since 1998, when the EEOC issued a compliance manual on retaliation, the percentage of EEOC private sector and state and local government charges alleging retaliation has practically doubled.
Think about it. An employee complains to the company about some form of discrimination. Then that employee gets fired. So, that employee files a Charge of Discrimination at the EEOC. Inevitably, that employee will likely check two boxes. The first box will be the underlying claim of discrimination, which will vary based on the the employee’s protected class (e.g., race, religion, national origin, etc.). The other checked box will be retaliation — every time. That’s why retaliation is the most common Charge filed at the EEOC.
Yesterday, the EEOC updated its guidance on retaliation and related issues.