The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) recently published its substantive agency enforcement priorities to combat employment discrimination and promote inclusive workspaces over the next four years. The EEOC periodically adopts a multi-year plan to guide fulfillment of its mission to prevent and remedy unlawful discrimination in employment. We discussed the EEOC’s overall … Continue Reading
The EEOC promises to secure greater equitable relief, to better investigate systematic discrimination, and to improve its customer service over the next four years, among other New Year’s resolutions. In its draft EEOC Strategic Plan 2022-2026 (released November 4, 2022), the agency sets forth 3 overarching goals and 15 identified performance measures for the purpose … Continue Reading
Imagine this: a nurse leaves the operating room during spinal surgery to participate in a union action, the employer terminates the nurse, and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) holds that the employer violated federal labor law by terminating the nurse. That is exactly what happened to a New York hospital recently when the Board … Continue Reading
The Respect for Marriage Act is now law, upholding recognition of interracial and same-sex marriages, and the U.S. Supreme Court has held that sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the workplace is illegal, but what rights do LGBTQ+ employees have in the workplace and how inclusive must employers be? The EEOC’s attempt to provide … Continue Reading
Employers who have made use of pre-dispute nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements will now have to change those practices and reevaluate their existing agreements thanks to the “Speak Out Act” (the “Act”) – a bipartisan piece of legislation born out of the #MeToo movement. The Act, which President Biden recently signed into law, is poised to … Continue Reading
‘Tis the season for employee performance reviews! In the midst of the chaos that is the holiday season and end-of-year deadlines, employee performance reviews are often scheduled during this busy time of the year. An impending performance review may cause stress and angst for both the manager who has to issue the performance review and … Continue Reading
By now, many employers have heard about “quiet quitting.” Though the term’s meaning varies depending on who’s using it, it generally refers to employees doing only as much work as the job requires without going the extra mile. Employers may view quiet quitting as lack of engagement or laziness, but employees may see it simply … Continue Reading
With early voting and vote by mail, methods of voting have become easier and more flexible and convenient than ever before—but policing politics in the workplace can be trickier than interpreting a hanging chad! Here’s what employers can do to ensure that a color war of red and blue does not ensue, after navigating through … Continue Reading
Just in time for Halloween and employee handbook update season, the California Legislature has passed an onslaught of new employment legislation sure to give employers compliance nightmares. From expanding the concept of “family” for leaves of absence, to more time to take that supplemental paid COVID-19 leave, protection against discrimination for cannabis use and reproductive … Continue Reading
A growing number of cities and states are pushing for greater pay transparency in the hiring process. To add to that growing list, California and New York have both passed pay transparency laws in recent months, leaving employers to modify how they seek out new talent. However, employers should keep in mind that not all … Continue Reading
It will now be even easier for employees to access, understand, and enforce their rights to be free from unlawful workplace harassment and discrimination—with just the aim of their smartphone or other cherished device. The “EEO is the Law” poster, which has mandatorily adorned employee break room bulletin boards across the country, just had a … Continue Reading
You’ve wined and dined and trained and invested in your new hire, and now they’re leaving you in the midst – before you were ready – can you still get the ring back, or in this case, “clawback” your training and other related expenses? Based upon a recent inquiry by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau … Continue Reading
Do you know which workers are your employees? That answer may change if a new rule proposed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) takes effect. Last month, the NLRB issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the joint-employer standard. If that announcement sounds familiar, that may be because the NLRB previously issued a Notice … Continue Reading
When Albert King sang “Born Under a Bad Sign,” he was not referring to a document containing an invalid electronic signature. Nevertheless, in a post-COVID world with large numbers of remote workers, employers can take affirmative steps to minimize the kind of “bad luck” the blues singer referred to by understanding issues that may arise … Continue Reading
Most employers include provisions in their Employee Handbook giving them the right to modify the policies at any time. They also make clear that the handbook is not a contract and does not create contractual obligations. There are good reasons for both, but also consequences. If you are looking to enforce an obligation, it’s best … Continue Reading
There has never been a better time for employers to train managers on the basics of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rights and appropriate responses to FMLA requests. Believe it or not, FMLA rights can be violated even if no FMLA leave is denied. That’s the law as affirmed by the Seventh Circuit’s recent … Continue Reading
Employers who are conducting automatic COVID-19 testing of employees or gathering test results of employees’ families should beware: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has issued new guidance limiting the former and has penalized a healthcare practice recently for doing the latter.… Continue Reading
We have all seen it. The unruly lap dog brought into a restaurant, yipping away, or the big dog running through a store dragging along its owner who, of course, claims it is a “service animal,” even though it clearly is not. Many individuals need and have legitimate service animals, while others need and have … Continue Reading
With many economic experts predicting that the U.S. will enter a recession in the near future, employers are preparing for the possibility of significant layoffs. Before making cuts, companies – especially those with remote workers – should be aware of the potential pitfalls and legal ramifications of layoffs, and be prepared to adjust the timing … Continue Reading
Background checks are a great idea—unless you fail to do them correctly. Mistakes can be costly. One online retailer paid $5 million to settle a class action filed by 454,000 job applicants alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a key federal law governing the conduct of background checks. The number of such … Continue Reading
With the rise of remote work, employers are increasingly considering measures to monitor employee’s work, whether for security purposes, or to monitor productivity. But employers take note: some states are starting to weigh in by passing laws that limit employer monitoring, or require employers to notify employees that they are monitoring them. And recording employee … Continue Reading
Last year we warned that the NLRB pendulum was swinging pro-union, but even we could not have predicted just how swiftly the pendulum swing would happen. In the past year alone, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has continued to forcibly push the pro-union agenda by revealing the NLRB’s intent … Continue Reading
Healthcare facilities and other entities receiving federal financial assistance can breathe a little easier after a U.S. Supreme Court decision issued last week barring the recovery of emotional damages for certain discrimination claims.… Continue Reading
The pandemic has revolutionized the workplaces and remote workforces will almost certainly survive the end of the pandemic. A Gallup poll last fall indicated that 61 percent of workers expect to work remotely at least part of the time in the future, and just 9 percent expect to work from home only minimally or not … Continue Reading
