• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly
Connection failed: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] No such file or directory

New York

Better late than never: Stop long-simmering racial hostility as soon as you discover it

08/14/2014
Sometimes, employees complain about racial harassment but don’t sue right away. Don’t think the problem will go away just because no one has filed an EEOC complaint.

New COBRA notice could help workers–and you, too

08/14/2014
You can finally make the Affordable Care Act work for you. The U.S. Depart­­ment of Labor has updated its model COBRA notice to emphasize that separated employees who qualify for COBRA continuation coverage may want to buy health insurance through the ACA’s exchanges instead.

EEOC expands protections for pregnant employees

08/14/2014
New EEOC guidance issued July 14 says that, under the Pregnancy Dis­­crimination Act, an em­­ployer must accommodate pregnant em­­ployees by offering work restrictions—such as light-duty work—if the employer accommodates nonpregnant employees with similar inabilities to work.

RIF that shows racial disparity spells trouble

08/14/2014
Sometimes, business conditions require companies to implement reductions in force. Before you put your HR seal of approval on who stays and who goes, be sure that hidden discrimination isn’t influencing the decisions.

Pregnancy unnecessary for pregnancy bias suit

08/14/2014
A woman doesn’t have to be pregnant to sue for discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Wait, what?

DOL announces new definition of ‘spouse’ for FMLA purposes

07/09/2014

United States v. Windsor struck down a Defense of Marriage Act provision that interpreted “marriage” and “spouse” to be limited to opposite-sex marriage for the purposes of federal law. Now the Department of Labor has issued rules extending FMLA protections to same-sex married couples.

Legislation will end employers’ annual wage-notice scramble

07/09/2014
On June 19, 2014, New York Assembly and Senate passed legislation eliminating a Wage Theft Prevention Act requirement that employers must provide wage notices to all employees by Feb. 1 each year.

NYC construction workers gain $4.9 million in back pay

07/09/2014
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has announced a settlement with federal contractor MDG Design & Construction, the prime contractor on the Grand Street Guild public housing construction project on New York’s Lower East Side.

Long Island cop wins $1.35M in reverse discrimination case

07/09/2014
A federal jury has awarded $1.35 million to a police lieutenant in the Long Island town of Freeport after finding that the town’s black mayor turned him down for a promotion to chief of police because he is white. A Hispanic fire department official got the job.

Biased at Tiffany?

07/09/2014
A black man who runs two Tiffany & Co. stores in Texas is suing the luxury retailer in New York, alleging that the company engages in “systemic, nationwide pattern and practice of racial discrimination.”