• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

The OT clock is ticking: Will you be ready for the new rule by July 1?

05/20/2024
Some employers are responding to the U.S. Department of Labor’s new white-collar overtime salary threshold rule by reclassifying some exempt employees into overtime-eligible nonexempts. In other cases, they’re planning to avoid additional overtime by raising pay above the new salary threshold. How far along are you? You now have just over one month to comply with the Department of Labor’s new rules, which take effect July 1. Here’s what you need to do now.

Avoid the wage-and-hour mistake that just cost an employer $229 million

05/17/2024
A jury recently reminded a Washington state employer that rounding time in a way that deprives employees of pay—even if it’s just pennies—can trigger a class-action lawsuit with a huge payout.

No, you can’t use high medical costs as an excuse to terminate a sick worker

05/13/2024
A car dealership is out $325,000 and must train managers and supervisors on the ADA and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Employ low-skill, entry-level workers? Avoid EEOC’s anti-discrimination crosshairs

05/08/2024
“Protecting individuals seeking entry-level or temporary jobs from discrimination” is an EEOC enforcement priority. For employers, that means low-skill, entry-level hiring patterns will be scrutinized for any sign that some applicants aren’t being hired because of their protected class.

Beware the high cost of tolerating a racially hostile environment: $20.5 million

05/08/2024
A former employee has won a huge jury award over allegations that a supervisor and co-worker created a racially hostile work environment that the company failed to fix.

AI and the FLSA: Not happy partners

05/06/2024
The EEOC has already issued guidance on AI and the Americans with Disabilities Act and in the hiring process. In conjunction with this collaborative effort, the DOL has issued a Field Assistance Bulletin that addresses AI and the FLSA.

Keep up with EEOC’s new, comprehensive enforcement guidance on harassment

05/06/2024
The EEOC has published a new, comprehensive guidance document that covers what employers must do to avoid liability for workplace harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age and genetic information.

Prepare for more DOL oversight of how AI affects FLSA compliance

05/06/2024
The U.S. Department of Labor is gearing up to ensure employers don’t misuse artificial-intelligence tools to track employees’ hours worked or how they spend their on-the-job time.

CROWN Act alert: Ensure grooming rules don’t perpetuate hairstyle bias

05/03/2024
One of the fastest-growing legal anti-discrimination trends is an effort to outlaw discrimination on the basis of employees’ hairstyles. So far, efforts to pass a national law have proven unsuccessful. However, that hasn’t stopped the EEOC from pursuing litigation against employers accused of natural hair discrimination, as a recent case shows.

4 questions and answers about FTC’s new noncompete ban

05/03/2024
On April 23, the Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule that bans almost all new noncompete agreements and makes existing ones unenforceable. FTC documents say the ban is necessary because requiring employees to sign noncompete agreements amounts to illegal restraint of trade.