• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

As union eyes our workforce, what should we do about its request for pay information?

04/12/2012
Q. I run a nonunion construction contracting company. We recently received a letter from a union stating that they believe we are paying substandard wages and benefits. The letter asked us to provide any information we might have to show that they are wrong and that we are paying area standard compensation to our people. Does the union have a right to this information?

Federal computer law doesn’t cover misuse of trade secrets

04/12/2012
The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) doesn’t grant employers any legal recourse if an employee misuses information obtained from company computers, according to a recent Minnesota Federal District Court ruling.

Bargaining with labor unions in a changing work environment

04/12/2012
The current labor environment provides opportunities for unionized employers to negotiate more favorable collective bargaining agreements. Because of the economic realities affecting U.S. workplaces and the politics of labor unions, employers are finding that unions are open to addressing subjects on which they previously had resisted change.

Former employee of music publisher sings to EEOC

04/12/2012
Winona-based Hal Leonard Publishing Co. has settled a sexual harassment class action suit with the EEOC. The music publisher will pay $150,000 to a class of women who claim they had to endure unwanted grabbing, squeezing and sexual innuendo.

OSHA publishes new hazard communication standards

04/12/2012
OSHA has updated its hazard communication standard to harmonize it with international standards. Com­­panies that manufacture, transport or have chemicals in the workplace must begin complying with the new standard by June 26.

Management’s independent review trumps supervisor’s hidden discrimination

04/12/2012
When upper management rubber-stamps an employment decision made by a supervisor who discriminates, the employer is liable for the discrimination. But if higher-ups independently review the situation before ratifying the decision, the employer isn’t bound by its discriminating subordinate’s wrongdoing.

Report alleges state didn’t investigate hospital head

04/12/2012
The state Department of Human Services failed to check educational and employment references for the director of the state’s largest mental hospital, according to a report by Minnesota Public Radio.

USERRA doesn’t require veteran’s preference

04/12/2012
USERRA is not a veteran’s preference law. It merely guarantees that service members can return to work no better or worse off than if they never left.

Menorah House sees the light

04/11/2012
A Boca Raton nursing facility, Menorah House, has agreed to settle a religious discrimination suit filed by two former employees after management stopped accommodating their religious needs. The two employees were Seventh-Day Adventists, who do not work from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

Don’t treat pregnancy-related absences differently than other medical absences

04/11/2012
If you provide additional leave or special arrangements for someone recovering from a heart attack or broken leg, you must provide them for a pregnant employee, too. Otherwise, you may be violating the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.