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Employment Law

Visit field operations to detect harassment, bias

06/24/2021
If your organization has far-flung operations, get out of HQ and into the field as often as you can. Unannounced inspections are the best way to spot harassment and discrimination that could result in huge penalties.

Advice to ‘put on big girl panties’ backfires

06/24/2021
When fielding a workplace harassment complaint, it may be tempting to suggest the alleged victim try to resolve the matter herself instead of filing a full-blown complaint with HR. That’s a terrible idea.

Warn interviewers not to ask loaded questions

06/24/2021
Train hiring managers to avoid asking intrusive, irrelevant and potentially illegal questions during job interviews. Loaded questions can spur a lawsuit if the candidate isn’t hired—and jurors may conclude the questions are smoking-gun evidence that proves discrimination.

Prepare to accommodate covid after-effects

06/24/2021
Most people recover from covid-19 within a few weeks. However, reasonably large numbers of people who had the disease experience after-effects that may interfere with their ability to work. As a result, employers can expect to see more requests for ADA reasonable accommodations and FMLA intermittent leave.

Report: Wage gaps between races continue to widen

06/22/2021
Wage disparities between Black and White workers have increased in the last 10 years, even for people with otherwise comparable backgrounds and qualifications, according to a new study by The Conference Board business research organization.

DOL proposes new rule on tipped worker pay

06/22/2021
The Department of Labor has floated a rule that would limit the amount of non-tip-producing work that a tipped employee can perform when an employer takes a tip credit.

Be alert to new legal risk: vaccine-status harassment

06/17/2021
Harassing a co-worker because of his or her unvaccinated status might cross the line into unlawful protected-class harassment. In that case, an employer might have honest-to-goodness liability for allowing such harassment to continue uncorrected.

Paycheck Fairness Act stalls, lacking Senate votes

06/17/2021
Legislation that would amend the Equal Pay Act to make it easier to sue for sex-based pay discrimination won’t become law this year, failing to win the backing of 60 senators necessary to overcome a filibuster.

Do your obligations follow digital nomads?

06/17/2021
Many employees who worked remotely through the pandemic will soon begin returning to work in person this fall. Before then, however, many of your pandemic teleworkers are likely planning to hit the road this summer—and taking their laptops with them as they can continue to work remotely from some location away from home. Here’s what to consider before giving them the green light.

Highly paid contractors may be FLSA HCEs

06/17/2021
One of the biggest risks of using independent contractors is the possibility they could challenge their status and argue they should be classified as employees. But there is a way to avoid that litigation risk: Pay those independent contractors enough so they would otherwise be classified as highly compensated employees under the FLSA.