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Employment Law

How to save millions even if you lose in court: Good-faith investigation can prevent huge punitive damages

03/13/2024
Always investigate every HR complaint, even if you think it’s frivolous. Doing so can help you dodge a huge punitive awards verdict if a jury sides with a fired worker. What matters most is that the investigation is done in good faith.

Prepare for FTC, states to ban noncompete agreements

03/13/2024
Typically state-regulated, noncompetes must cover a reasonable geographic area, be specific about the kind of work covered and expire after a reasonable time period. But the Biden administration generally views noncompete agreements as inherently anti-competitive and unfair when applied to workers in low-wage positions.

Discouraging even one worker from complaining violates the NLRA

03/13/2024
The NLRA applies to just about every private-sector employer, setting strict rules for what employers can and cannot do when setting workplace rules. For example, it makes it illegal to tell employees not to discuss workplace conditions among themselves. However, until February, discussing work conditions had to involve at least two employees. Not anymore.

You can’t do that: Never ban employees from discussing pay

03/13/2024
Even though Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act has been the law for decades, a 2021 study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found nearly half of full-time employees have been prohibited or dissuaded from discussing or disclosing wages.

Accommodating staff with anxiety disorders

03/13/2024
The psychological condition known as anxiety disorder is characterized by feelings of worry or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one’s daily activities. It comes in several varieties, including generalized anxiety disorder that has no specific focus and social anxiety disorder, which is triggered by social interactions.

As employer, you get to choose and implement your preferred disability accommodations

03/13/2024
Employers and disabled employees must engage in an “interactive process” to determine what accommodations will allow employees to perform the essential functions of their jobs. If more than one might work, the employer gets to pick which one to implement. Once that’s done, the employer has met its ADA obligations, even if the employee refuses the accommodation.

Labor lessons: Takeaways from 2023, a record-setting year for strikes

03/13/2024
There were 33 major strikes in 2023, according to new figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the most in almost a quarter-century. It’s a sign that workers still believe they have the upper hand in an economy that has defied the odds and has not slipped into a recession.

Ensure all pre-employment qualification tests are specific to the job and your needs

03/11/2024
Once you have made a job offer, you can only require physical qualification tests that are job-related and consistent with business necessity. The rule is designed to ensure that tests don’t have a disparate negative impact on members of protected classes.

Require HR to review all religious accommodation requests

03/11/2024
Last June’s Groff v. DeJoy Supreme Court decision essentially requires employers to grant almost all employee requests for religious accommodations unless doing so would create an undue burden. Do not allow supervisors to make those decisions on their own. Once HR makes an accommodation plan, do not allow supervisors to deviate from it.

Limit liability from data breaches that expose employee info

03/11/2024
Imagine this nightmare scenario: You’ve contracted with a vendor to enter personnel data into a new computer system. You hand over confidential employee info, including Social Security numbers, addresses, names of dependents, health records and bank account routing numbers. Then the vendor notifies you that the employee information was somehow stolen. What will you do? It happens more often than anyone would like to admit.