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Discrimination / Harassment

Manage workplace politics in or out of election season

12/21/2022
Politics are always with us nowadays. When tensions are high, it is essential to keep a respectful workplace, whether or not it’s voting season.

Respect for Marriage Act passes; employers, take note

12/21/2022
The Respect for Marriage Act passed into law with bipartisan support in December and protects marriage for LGBTQ+ and interracial couples. The act ensures that a marriage that is legal in one state is recognized by all. Take this opportunity to review your benefits offerings to ensure they align with federal, state and local laws.

Montana judge strikes down vaccine discrimination

12/21/2022
Montana’s state law prohibited employers from inquiring about vaccination status, including whether a worker or applicant was vaccinated against COVID-19, mumps, measles or other diseases.

Harassment: Here’s why you want to make reporting it easy

12/20/2022
It is vital to encourage employees to report anything they think could be classified as sexual, racial or other harassment. Make reporting easy, offering multiple complaint avenues. Instruct supervisors and managers to say something if they see something.

Show us the money and pass the complaint form

12/20/2022
Pay transparency laws are spreading—brace yourself for unintended consequences.

ACLU wants the FTC to monitor algorithms

12/20/2022
Algorithms, or automated systems, already assist in hiring, weighing creditworthiness, screening tenants and determining whether someone is eligible for a mortgage. And the automated calculations are almost as biased and error-prone as humans, according to organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

Speak Out Act means changes for NDAs

12/20/2022
Many employers require new employees to sign NDAs on the day they are hired. The agreements prevent employees from speaking out about a variety of workplace disputes. The Speak Out Act makes such NDAs unenforceable.

Don’t use citizenship as a hiring factor

12/20/2022
Most employers know they can’t take protected characteristics like age or disability into consideration. But some hiring managers may think it’s fine to bypass an applicant with a precarious legal immigration status in favor of a U.S. citizen based on the belief that citizens won’t lose the legal right to work. They are wrong.

Pre-employment pregnancy test? Don’t think about it

12/15/2022
If it looks illegal and smells illegal, then it’s illegal.

Title VII violated when Ford refused to hire pregnant woman who passed physical exam

12/15/2022
The Ford Motor Company must pay $115,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit.