With the continued rise of the #MeToo movement, New York has taken the reins as one of the leaders in combating sexual harassment in the workplace. All employers who have employees located in New York state must now provide sexual harassment training to all employees at least once a year.
Human Resources and Workplaces
Signs Signs, Everywhere a Sign: States Require Updated Employment Law Postings
Employers are well aware of the requirement to post various notices from the EEOC, DOL, and other acronym-bearing state and federal agencies. Unfortunately, many employers have a “post it and forget it” mentality and fail to regularly update those posters and required notices.
These agencies, however, are often issuing updated…
A Plan for Saying No: How to Refuse Service
Refusing to serve a patron is a hot topic right now, and it is not something any employer should take lightly. When recently asked about this issue by Thomson Reuters, partner Seth Ford and staff attorney Matt Anderson outlined the do’s and don’ts for a refusal of service policy.…
Recent Developments in Pay Equity: Real Reactions, Not Just Headlines
By Emily Schifter on
Posted in Employment Laws, Human Resources and Workplaces
Pay equity is a hot topic – and not just in employment and HR circles. Both inside and outside of the courts, the issue has gained national attention and is spurring legislators in states across the country to act. Recent developments are a timely reminder to all employers to start…
Revisiting The NLRB’s Workplace Rule Standards
By Evan Gibbs on
Posted in Human Resources and Workplaces
We wrote recently about the Trump Administration’s efforts to roll back the Obama-era NLRB’s workplace handbook and rule restrictions. It’s time to update you further on where that effort stands.
As a reminder, the Obama NLRB held in December 2017 in The Boeing Company case that facially-neutral employment policies and…
Who Are You?: The Legal Implications of Employee Personality Testing
Many employers require employees and applicants to take personality testing (think Myers-Briggs). Others are seriously considering adding this as a component of their hiring and employee engagement efforts. Companies want to get a sense of an individual’s opinions, attitudes, feelings, motivations, preferences, interests, emotional makeup, and style of interacting with…
You’re Fired! The Right (and Wrong) Ways to Fire an Employee
By Emily Schifter on
Posted in Human Resources and Workplaces
When President Trump fired then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier this month, he did it in one of the most public ways possible: on Twitter. The kicker? He had not told Tillerson, who was traveling in Africa at the time, about the decision in person before tweeting it. (Although…
NLRB Rolls Back Obama-Era Workplace Handbook and Rule Restrictions
By Evan Gibbs on
For the past several years, folks in the HR space have had to pay special attention to the language in their handbooks and employment policies out of fear of violating rules established by a series of decisions from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Those decisions established a tough standard…
Should You Offer Your Employees “Pawternity” Leave?
By Emily Schifter on
Posted in Human Resources and Workplaces
Believe it or not, there’s a growing trend among some employers to offer a new benefit: “pawternity leave,” or leave for new pet owners. Offerings range from a few days of leave up to a week or more, and might come in addition to other pet-related benefits, such as pet…
5 Employment Law Predictions for 2018 – Part II
By Evan Gibbs on
Posted in Employment Laws, Human Resources and Workplaces
Part I of this post offered predictions related to DOL Opinion Letters and a likely rule increasing the minimum exempt salary level under the FLSA. This Part II offers three more predictions involving legal issues quite different from wage and hour concerns.
Prediction 3: Continuing and Increasing Focus on Harassment…