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Discrimination / Harassment

Decrease in Overtime Hours Not Necessarily an ‘Adverse Action’

01/01/2006

Employees need to prove they suffered some sort of "adverse job action" (firing, demotion, worse job conditions, etc.) to file a discrimination lawsuit. But variations in work schedules don’t necessarily amount to an adverse action. That’s true even if an employee’s altered schedule results in fewer overtime hours …

Show your defense cards early in the lawsuit game

01/01/2006

By having a tough anti-discrimination policy and a clear complaint procedure, you establish what lawyers call an "affirmative defense," meaning you have a weapon to defend yourself in court. But you must put forth those affirmative defenses very early in a lawsuit …

Know the ‘Cooling Off’ Period for Age-Bias Waivers

01/01/2006

Q. Can you tell me if there’s a law that says a 45-day waiting period must exist from the time employees are told they’ll be laid off until they receive the severance payment? Supposedly, this is called a cooling-off period. Is this a federal law? —T.M., Pennsylvania

Same job titles don’t demand the same pay

01/01/2006

While the Equal Pay Act prohibits wage discrimination against women, make sure you and your supervisors realize that it doesn’t require every employee in the same position to earn the same salary. If you can point to factors other than gender (seniority, education, experience, skills, etc.), you can set radically different salaries for employees who hold the exact same job …

When can nonsexual bullying equal sexual harassment?

01/01/2006

f you think sexual harassment involves only those headline-grabbing actions like groping behind closed doors or demands for sex, you’re wrong. The law also says that if your organization tolerates employees who single out co-workers of one gender for abusive (nonsexual) treatment, you could be liable for a sexual harassment lawsuit based on a hostile environment …

Avoid Phrases That Can Sabotage Job-Review Meetings

01/01/2006
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‘Customer preference’ is no reason for discriminatory hiring choices

12/01/2005
Make sure your hiring managers understand that customer preference should play no part in their hiring decisions. Applicants’ race, age, sex or religion …

Can you require employees to speak English around customers?

12/01/2005

A narrowly tailored English-only policy that is designed to serve legitimate business needs is not discriminatory, says the EEOC. To be valid, the policy should spell out when English is required and let employees converse in any other language at all other times …

Harassment victims aren’t immune from discipline; document actions

12/01/2005
Retaliating against employees for filing harassment complaints is an obvious no-no. But that doesn’t mean employees automatically earn a “Do not touch” label …

You won’t be liable for employees’ conjecture about discrimination

12/01/2005
You can’t stop employees and low-level supervisors from comparing notes and speculating about management’s motivations; the right to complain is practically …