Discrimination / Harassment

Respond to shifting burdens of proof in discrimination lawsuits

03/17/2007

Over the years, the Supreme Court has developed a framework for testing whether an employer’s actions are evidence of discrimination or the result of legitimate business practices. The test has three parts that shift the burden of proof of wrongdoing back and forth between the plaintiff and the employer.

Employment Laws: Compliance Thresholds

03/15/2007

White Paper published by The HR Specialist, copyright 2007 ______________________ Federal employment laws can be terribly confusing, particularly because they often have different definitions for the size of a business that is exempt from the law. Use the following list to make sure you’re not spending time and money complying with laws that only apply […]

Damages and Jury Trials

03/15/2007

HR Law 101: Since passage of the 1991 Civil Rights Act, jury trials now are allowed when the plaintiff alleges intentional discrimination and seeks compensatory or punitive damages. However, a jury can’t be told of the statutory limits on the amount of compensatory and punitive damages it can award …

ADA: Drug and Alcohol Addiction

03/12/2007

HR Law 101: The ADA protects recovering and former addicts, but not current users of illegal drugs. The law also covers workers who are alcoholics, but that doesn't mean you have to tolerate them coming to work drunk …

EEOC Settlements

03/12/2007

HR Law 101: The EEOC has become proactive in protecting workers from a sexually hostile environment. In 2007 alone, the agency recovered from employers nearly $50 million for victims of harassment …

Exit Interviews

03/08/2007

HR Law 101: Nowadays, most organizations conduct exit interviews with departing employees to determine why they’ve resigned. Exit interviews can be a great HR tool, but you have to know what questions to ask and, at the same time, what questions to avoid for legal reasons.

Youth-Based Discrimination Claims

03/08/2007

HR Law 101: Under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, employees must be 40 or older to file an age-bias lawsuit. But several states (among them Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Oregon) don’t include a minimum age at which legal protection begins …

Preventing Sexual Harassment: A Business Guide

03/07/2007

Login Email Address Password I forgot my password To continue reading this page, become an HR Specialist Premium Plus member today! Your subscription includes: Ask the Attorney: Answers to your HR legal questions Compliance Guidance: Access to 7,000 HR news articles, updated daily, sorted by state State-by-State: Summaries of HR laws in all 50 states […]

Off-Duty Behavior/Moonlighting

03/06/2007

HR Law 101: In recent years, employer attempts to regulate what employees may do on their own time have become contentious. Many employers fear that their employees’ off-duty actions, including moonlighting, may reflect badly on them, lower productivity or, even worse, create liability …

Hiring interns: The 4 steps to keeping it legal

03/01/2007

Courts view interns the same as employees: as “agents” of your organization. So should you. If you use interns or plan to, advise supervisors to manage them as closely as employees, if not more so. And apply your workplace policies to them …