The Employer Handbook Blog

Five pending Supreme Court cases for HR, In-House & the C-Suite to follow

October 8, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Thumbnail image for Supreme Court.jpg

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court reconvened for its 2012-2013 term.

Although not chock full of pending employment-law cases, this term will see several important issues decided which could affect your workplace. Below, I have a collected a series of links to stories on these cases:

“New Supreme Court Term Promises a Range of Labor and Employment Cases” by Lindsey Marcus and Jeff Nowak at Franczek Radelet P.C.

GUEST POST: 3 Reasons to Consider Job Applicants with Online Degrees

October 5, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Caroline Ross. Caroline is a former educator who writes for accreditedonlineuniversities.com and specializes in distance education platforms and online program accreditation. She is an avid reader and advocate for global education and equality. Please submit any comments or feedback in the section below! Feel free to email her some comments!

(Want to guest blog at The Employer Handbook? Email me.)

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$$$ reasons to have a second-language anti-harassment policy

October 4, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

When an employer is faced with a sexual-harassment lawsuit, one of its best defenses is that the company took reasonable care (e.g., policy, training) to prevent sexual harassment (and then addressed complaints in a manner that is reasonably designed to end the sexual harassment)

In EEOC v. Spud Seller (opinion here), the employer had an anti-harassment policy that detailed what constitutes sexual harassment and how to report it. Further, it specifically advised employees that, “You can feel state that your complaint will receive immediate attention and if the facts support your complaint, the offender will be disciplined.”

Sounds good to me.

New bill would require accommodations for pregnant employees

October 3, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Does an employer have to provide a reasonable accommodation to a pregnant employee to allow her to perform the essential functions her job?

Let’s see.

Americans with Disabilities Act? No. Pregnancy is not a disability. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act? Well that depends. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act is part of Title VII. But the current state of law is such that employers need only treat pregnant employees as they would other employees with temporary disabilities. However, most employers do afford accommodations (e.g., light duty) to employees with temporary disabilities. So, they would have to do the same for pregnant employees too.

But do I smell some duplicative federal legislation after the jump? I sure do. Click through for details…

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In its first Facebook-firing decison, the NLRB backs an employer

October 2, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Look out for that flying pig!!!

No, it’s true. I’ve got proof after the jump…

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CA enacts workplace social media protections; NJ gets closer

October 1, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Last week, CA became the third state to pass a law that bans employers from requesting online usernames and passwords from employees and job candidates. Maryland was the first state to pass such a law; Illinois was the second.

As in the other two states, not only is it illegal to request online information, but also CA employers may not retaliate against anyone who refuses to turn it over.

There are two carve-outs in the CA law to protect legitimate employer interests. An employer may:

Rapper’s Delight: Lil Wayne gives a deposition for the ages [VIDEO]

September 28, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

This.

What one employment-law question would you ask Paul Ryan?

September 27, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

We’re just a few months away from the Presidential election. That means that the debates are right around the corner.

Monday, started a week-long series of hypothetical debate question for the 2012 candidates for President and Vice President. Here are the questions I asked President Obama, Mitt Romney, and Vice President Biden.

And here’s my question for Rep. Paul Ryan:

What one employment-law question would you ask Joe Biden?

September 26, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

We’re just a few months away from the Presidential election. That means that the debates are right around the corner.

Monday, started a week-long series of hypothetical debate question for the 2012 candidates for President and Vice President. Here are the questions I asked President Obama and Mitt Romney.

And here’s my question for Vice President Biden:

What one employment-law question would you ask Mitt Romney?

September 25, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

We’re just a few months away from the Presidential election. That means that the debates are right around the corner.

Yesterday, started a week-long series of hypothetical debate question for the 2012 candidates for President and Vice President. Click here to see the softball that I tossed President Obama.

Let’s see if I can raise my game for Mitt Romney: