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Discrimination / Harassment

Enforce e-mail usage rules–if only to avoid PR nightmare

05/03/2011
If you let employees ignore reasonable restrictions on how they use company e-mail and other communications tools, you may find yourself having to scramble to prevent embarrassing information from becoming public.

Members of protected group flunk job test? Make sure bosses aren’t manipulating system

05/02/2011
If your pool of qualified applicants is demographically significantly different than your hires, there may be trouble afoot. Don’t count on pre-­employment job tests to automatically create fair hiring. If a quick internal audit shows that particular departments or managers have considered but not hired members of a protected class, you may want to look at whether the testing is being handled properly.

Carefully track who applied for which positions

05/02/2011

If applicants believe an employer discriminates, they may be reluctant to even apply for a job, thinking it’s inevitable they will be passed over. That doesn’t mean they’ll hesitate to go ahead and sue anyway. However, smart employers that let everyone know what jobs are open and how to apply will probably win those cases.

Save the day! Stop borderline behavior early

05/02/2011

When HR finds out a supervisor has acted in a way that could be inter­preted as offensive, take immediate action. That doesn’t necessarily have to include discipline. Instead, remind the supervisor that the behavior—though it doesn’t rise to the level that could be considered harassment—must stop.

The HR I.Q. Test: May ’11

05/02/2011
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

Delete your liability: Copy Xerox response to harassment complaint

04/29/2011
You can’t prevent every vulgar act an employee may commit. But you can and should act fast when you learn about misbehavior. As the response by Xerox managers in the following case shows, a single incident that doesn’t involve outrageous behavior or a physical assault typically isn’t sexual harassment in the eyes of the court—unless the employer ignores the incident and allows the problem to escalate.

Can we offer cash incentives for employees to opt out of our health insurance plan?

04/28/2011
Q. We’re trying to reduce our group health benefit costs. Several employees are on both our plan and that of their spouses. They are willing to go off our group plan if we compensate them a certain amount of money each month. Is it legal to offer either medical insurance benefits or a cash alternative?

Philadelphia approves new Fair Employment Practices Code

04/28/2011
Philadelphia has amended its fair-employment practices ordinance to add three new classes. Now, employers in the city may not discriminate against employees on the basis of any genetic information they may gather, an employee’s status as a victim of domestic or sexual violence, or an employee’s familial status.

Age discrimination claim may bar other claims

04/28/2011
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that to prove age discrimination, employees have to show that age was the sole reason for an adverse employment action. That usually means employees can’t claim that other types of discrimination were also in play.

Is employee really disabled? Use common sense

04/28/2011

When it comes to deciding whether to grant reasonable accommodations, the first step is to determine whether the employee is really disabled. A diagnosis isn’t the last word. Does the condition actually limit the employee in some substantial way?