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Employment Law

Respect for Marriage Act passes; employers, take note

12/21/2022
The Respect for Marriage Act passed into law with bipartisan support in December and protects marriage for LGBTQ+ and interracial couples. The act ensures that a marriage that is legal in one state is recognized by all. Take this opportunity to review your benefits offerings to ensure they align with federal, state and local laws.

Supreme Court to decide: Which conversations with lawyers are privileged?

12/21/2022
For the first time in 40 years, the Supreme Court will hear a case concerning attorney-client privilege. The issue is whether conversations involving matters that are both legal and non-legal are privileged and thus shielded from discovery during litigation.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act passes House, shot down in Senate

12/21/2022
A bipartisan group of senators tried, in early December, to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The act resembles the Americans with Disabilities Act in requiring employers of 15 or more employees to make reasonable accommodations to allow pregnant workers to continue working safely.

Montana judge strikes down vaccine discrimination

12/21/2022
Montana’s state law prohibited employers from inquiring about vaccination status, including whether a worker or applicant was vaccinated against COVID-19, mumps, measles or other diseases.

Harassment: Here’s why you want to make reporting it easy

12/20/2022
It is vital to encourage employees to report anything they think could be classified as sexual, racial or other harassment. Make reporting easy, offering multiple complaint avenues. Instruct supervisors and managers to say something if they see something.

Show us the money and pass the complaint form

12/20/2022
Pay transparency laws are spreading—brace yourself for unintended consequences.

ACLU wants the FTC to monitor algorithms

12/20/2022
Algorithms, or automated systems, already assist in hiring, weighing creditworthiness, screening tenants and determining whether someone is eligible for a mortgage. And the automated calculations are almost as biased and error-prone as humans, according to organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

NLRB expands remedies for unfair labor violations

12/20/2022
The National Labor Relations Board, which administers the National Labor Relations Act, has become bolder in devising new penalties for employers it finds guilty of committing unfair labor practices.

Speak Out Act means changes for NDAs

12/20/2022
Many employers require new employees to sign NDAs on the day they are hired. The agreements prevent employees from speaking out about a variety of workplace disputes. The Speak Out Act makes such NDAs unenforceable.

Don’t use citizenship as a hiring factor

12/20/2022
Most employers know they can’t take protected characteristics like age or disability into consideration. But some hiring managers may think it’s fine to bypass an applicant with a precarious legal immigration status in favor of a U.S. citizen based on the belief that citizens won’t lose the legal right to work. They are wrong.