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Employment Law

NLRB helps a new breed of activists unionize

06/02/2022
After decades of declining union membership, the National Labor Relations Board has begun playing an active supporting role in organized labor’s recent success winning union representation elections.

Bill would disallow employer tax breaks for anti-union activity

06/01/2022
The Senate Finance Committee could soon begin holding hearings on legislation that would deny employer tax deductions for any money spent “to influence their employees with respect to labor organizations or labor organization activities, such as elections, labor disputes and collective actions.”

Wells Fargo shows how not to foster diversity

06/01/2022
78% of employers surveyed earlier this year by the WorldatWork association said they had recently either implemented or were planning to implement a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative at least in part to assist recruitment. But good intentions will only get you so far down the path toward workforce diversity. You also need buy-in from hiring managers. And merely paying lip service to your initiative may backfire.

Warn bosses about adverse action after bias complaint

05/26/2022
Once an employee’s discrimination lawsuit gets to court, anything can happen. In fact, it’s common for employees to lose on their initial discrimination or harassment claims but still win an associated retaliation claim. That’s why you must train managers that any adverse action—even as minor as a schedule change—can be interpreted as retaliation if it comes after an employee has complained about bias or harassment

Even temporary conditions can be disabilities

05/26/2022
It’s a misconception that an employee must have a permanent, long-term medical condition in order to be covered by the ADA. Not true! A temporary serious health condition can still qualify as an ADA disability.

Fairness can overcome managerial stupidity

05/26/2022
Employers that are generally fair and reasonable can bounce back from isolated instances in which managers make stupid mistakes that look discriminatory. Having a history of fair and transparent promotions and pay increases tends to demonstrate that an employer doesn’t intend to discriminate.

Don’t let bosses override accommodations

05/26/2022
Whether you handle accommodation requests internally or through a third party, make sure you don’t undo all your efforts by letting supervisors override accommodation recommendations and implement their own measures.

Sweeping FLSA revision advances in House of Representatives

05/24/2022
Nominally, the Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act (H.R. 7701) would require employers to provide detailed pay stubs and issue final pay in a timely manner.

From retired to rehired: Beware liability risks

05/24/2022
The recently “unretired” are more likely than younger workers to trigger Age Discrimination in Employment Act complaints in both the short term and in the future if they wind up losing their jobs in an economic downturn. Let’s look at the risks and how to mitigate them.

The wage-and-hour risks of rounding time

05/19/2022
The DOL says employers should discourage “major discrepancies” between “clock records and actual hours worked.” In other words, frequent and repeated rounding could call into question the accuracy of an employer’s overall time records. So what’s an employer to do?