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Employment Law

Auditor: EEOC needs better HR files

12/24/2014
Hidden in the back pages of the EEOC’s fiscal year 2014 annual report was this tidbit: “The EEOC does not properly maintain supporting documentation for personnel expenses.”

DOJ: Title VII covers transgender bias

12/24/2014
Attorney General Eric Holder issued a Dec. 18 memo informing DOJ staff and U.S. Attorneys that the department will no longer assert that Title VII’s prohibition against discrimination based on sex excludes discrimination based on gender identity per se, including transgender discrimination. That reverses a previous Department of Justice position.

OK to monitor email without consent?

12/23/2014
Q. We suspect someone is conducting inappropriate business using their work email. Is it illegal for us to monitor their email without their consent?

Pay up! Wage-and-hour issues take center stage in 2015

12/23/2014
Wage-and-hour issues could take center stage in 2015, with federal, state and local legislative battles looming over increases to the minimum wage, more wage-and-hour litigation and proposed regulations that could dramatically narrow the overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Disabled SSA employees settle for $6.6 million

12/23/2014
Current and former employees of the Social Security Administration will receive $6.6 million to settle charges the agency failed to accommodate disabled workers and denied them promotions. A federal judge in Baltimore has given preliminary approval to the deal.

Comments on accent aren’t automatically discrimination

12/23/2014
Some people who speak English well still have thick accents. Asking for clarification or inquiring about the accent isn’t national-origin discrimination, as long as it’s not disrespectful.

Aim high! You can strive for a more diverse workplace without breaking the law

12/23/2014
As long as you consider all candidates on their individual merits and not solely because of what sex, age, race or ethnicity they belong to, your efforts at diversity won’t get you in trouble.

HR staffing: Those who handle discipline shouldn’t have access to FMLA info

12/23/2014

If you have a large enough HR office, it makes good sense to keep the FMLA request and approval process separate from the disciplinary process. Doing so ensures that someone with expertise in FMLA administration handles the entire process. But there is an additional benefit.

More than a matter of style: Grooming rules can differ based on sex

12/23/2014
If you have a dress and grooming policy that sets out different rules for men and women, you aren’t necessarily setting yourself up for a sex discrimination lawsuit.

City of Brotherly Love rates high for LGBT rights

12/23/2014
Philadelphia scored a perfect 100 in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual rankings of American cities with local laws and policies that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination.