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

Employment Law

Failure to investigate lands HR in trouble

07/17/2024
Employers must investigate every harassment claim. That’s true even when the alleged harasser is an owner or executive.

Surprised by new hire’s disability claim? Don’t be

07/17/2024
Applicants don’t have to admit to being disabled during an interview. They are within their rights to ask for an accommodation after being hired.

Paging all humans: The FLSA & the FMLA still need you

07/17/2024
Artificial intelligence has taken firm hold in American workplaces. By far, the focus is on how generative AI will either streamline tasks or supplant employees altogether. The Department of Labor isn’t buying the employees-will-soon-be-replaced talk. Human oversight is still necessary to the proper functioning of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, the DOL concluded.

Student athletes may be employees under the FLSA

07/17/2024
These student athletes aren’t claiming to be independent contractors or volunteers, two categories of service providers who are exempt from the FLSA and the tax code. They’re not in a work-study program as most of us understand it. Nevertheless, both the FLSA and the tax code recognize two types of paid work—work as an employee or an independent contractor.

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.