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Employment Law

McFerran’s renomination as NLRB chair under fire over divisive speech

07/15/2024
As NLRB chair, Lauren McFerran’s leadership has drawn fire from business interests who contend the board’s recent rulings have run roughshod over employer rights. That has put her renomination in a precarious spot.

Prepare to pay up if you insist on English fluency or prohibit other languages on the job

07/15/2024
While English is the dominant U.S. language, it certainly isn’t the only one spoken in our multicultural society. In fact, employers that insist on English fluency or prohibit speaking another language at work may find themselves running afoul of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other employment laws, as one employer recently discovered.

More older workers may mean more age-bias, disability-discrimination lawsuits

07/15/2024
Older workers make up an increasingly large share of the workforce, and EEOC charges alleging age-based discrimination increased to 14,144 in fiscal year 2023, up sharply from 11,500 the year before.

Anniversary: Civil Rights Act of 1964 hits 60

07/15/2024
July 2 marked the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The landmark legislation outlawed, among other things, workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origins.

Can it get worse than this?

07/11/2024
It’s not a rhetorical question. We spend the vast majority of our time on tax and payroll issues, as you would expect. So we don’t often run across examples of sexually harassing behavior, let alone something this egregious. But we highlight it when we do, because we all deserve to work in a safe place, free of harassment.

EEOC provides guidance on how to prevent harassment in vulnerable workplaces

07/10/2024
Employees in some industries and in isolated workplaces are more likely to experience workplace harassment. The EEOC’s newly expanded enforcement guidelines emphasize that employers can help prevent this from happening by learning to identify high-risk settings. Now the agency has published Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry.

Disabled new hire? You must engage in the ADA’s interactive accommodations process no matter what

07/10/2024
Because disabled individuals may fear—sometimes rightly so—that employers wouldn’t hire them if they knew about their disability, the ADA doesn’t require applicants to reveal disabilities during the interview and hiring phase. Thus, it may catch employers by surprise when the first thing a new hire does is request a reasonable accommodation.

A ruff reasonable accommodation claim

07/10/2024
While it’s important to support employees’ health and well-being, accommodations should not compromise the core aspects of your business operations.

HR’s big artificial intelligence question: Does AI candidate screening discriminate?

07/10/2024
AI skeptics and a growing cadre of plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that instead of preventing hiring bias, relying on an AI algorithm may actually bake discrimination into the selection process. That’s what is alleged in one recent complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission and another with the EEOC.

Court order signals FTC’s noncompete ban may be struck down

07/08/2024
A federal judge in Texas on July 3 issued a preliminary injunction that partially prohibits the Federal Trade Commission from enforcing a rule that bans employers from using noncompete agreements. The court’s ruling likely means the rule will be overturned before it takes effect in September.