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Employment Law

What counts as retaliation? Almost anything

06/20/2024
Follow up with workers who report discrimination to make sure they’re not being punished.

Why HR needs to walk around high-risk work areas

06/20/2024
Because stopping harassment fast can limit liability, it’s crucial for HR professionals to walk around high-risk workplaces and provide training on sexual and other harassment to everyone, including employees and supervisors. Otherwise, you increase the risk of being sued, paying a settlement and having the EEOC perform the monitoring you should have been doing all along.

Why HR must preview all job postings

06/20/2024
Do you check your organization’s job postings for inaccurate, inappropriate or illegal language? If not, you’re opening your organization to legal battles.

Consider extra support for military members

06/20/2024
Two federal laws protect members of the armed services from discrimination and provide limited time off for service-related injuries, and it’s important to be well-versed in these regulations. Many companies are going further to show support for their military employees, offering extra benefits.

Payroll pro & con: To auto-deduct for meals or not

06/20/2024
The reasoning behind auto-deducting meal breaks is simple: Employees no longer need to think about it and you no longer have to deal with those who forget to clock in and out. In theory, auto-deducting eliminates wage overpayments and faulty regular rate and overtime calculations. But there are issues you need to resolve before you buy into auto-deductions.

He said, they said: No records puts employer in a messy place

06/20/2024
Lawsuits for unpaid overtime aren’t always so cut-and-dried. They can come in layers, with each layer costing you more. The 5th Circuit ruled that an employer could be liable for unpaid overtime if it misclassified workers as independent contractors, even though the workers had scant evidence of their unpaid overtime.

Court rejects PWFA challenge, rules to take effect June 18

06/17/2024
Final rules for enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act can take effect as scheduled on June 18, now that a federal court in Arkansas has rejected a lawsuit contesting abortion-related provisions of the law.

Supreme Court Starbucks ruling reins in NLRB

06/17/2024
In a unanimous decision handed down June 13, the U.S. Supreme Court made it harder for the National Labor Relations Board to intervene in employers’ decisions.

Court: Denying transgender-care coverage violates Title VII

06/17/2024
For the first time, a federal appeals court has ruled that an employer that provides health insurance for its employees violates Title VII if it refuses to cover transgender care. That, in the words of the court, violates Title VII’s sex-discrimination provisions because it denies transgender workers the same benefits other employees are entitled to.

Gender identity on the docket: Lawsuit slams EEOC’s anti-harassment guidance

06/17/2024
When the EEOC issued new final enforcement guidance on all forms of harassment in April, the agency included guidance on gender identity, dress codes, bathroom use and pronoun choice. A  group of 18 state attorneys general have filed suit, alleging that the guidance goes too far.