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Employment Law

Disorganization: Union membership falls to all-time low

02/23/2017
Only 10.7% of U.S. workers are now members of labor unions.

EEOC: Take supervisor harassment seriously

02/22/2017
The EEOC has signaled its intent to aggressively pursue harassment cases against employers—especially when the harassment is perpetrated by anyone in a supervisory role.

Warn staff: Bullying can bring criminal charges

02/22/2017
Employees who harass and abuse co-workers—and supervisors who turn a blind eye to bullying—may end up facing jail time.

Overtime rules appeal deadline pushed back to May 1

02/21/2017
The fate of the Department of Labor’s long-delayed new overtime pay rules will not be known for several more weeks. That doesn’t bode well for their eventual enactment.

Microbrewery alleges former exec spilled trade secrets

02/17/2017
Summit Brewing in St. Paul is suing its former vice president of sales for providing trade secrets to a direct competitor.

Minority cops: Minneapolis P.D. psych screening test is biased

02/17/2017
The psychological test the Minneapolis Police Department uses to screen applicants is biased against minorities, according to some police officers.

Federal court: Minnesota law protects transgender people

02/17/2017
A federal court has concluded that Minnesota’s sex discrimination laws include gender identity as a protected status.

Acosta to replace Puzder as Labor Secretary nominee

02/16/2017
Law school dean and former NLRB member Alexander Acosta is the Trump administration’s new pick to become Secretary of Labor.

To claim discrimination, worker must cite ‘adverse action’–not just an upsetting one

02/16/2017
Employees who claim their employers discriminated against them must be able to prove that they suffered some sort of action that was “adverse,” not merely uncomfortable, inconvenient or even unfair.

Union arbitrator can decide guilt, but not punishment

02/16/2017
If an agreement includes specific disciplinary provisions, it’s up to an arbitrator to determine if an employee violated the rules. But if the agreement spells out the punishment, the arbitrator is not free to modify the penalty.