The Supreme Court recently ruled 6-3 that a state appeals court erroneously upheld a lower court order refusing to enforce an arbitration agreement that included a class waiver. This decision reaffirmed the supremacy of the Federal Arbitration Act. Wendy Sugg, in Troutman Sanders’ Orange County office, spoke with Employment…

This year, we recognize 25 years of the coverage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on workplaces and commercial establishments.  While you may be most familiar with how employment policies and practices have been subject to the ADA and its regulations for the past 25 years, that is not the only significant impact of the ADA.  Public entities and transportation providers have had obligations under the ADA too.  In fact, a large part of the ADA specifically applies to places of public accommodations and commercial facilities.  So, anyone who opens their doors for retail, service, office, or warehouse purposes is required to ensure full and equal enjoyment of all goods, services, facilities, and accommodations to those with disabilities.

The HR Law Matters blog is happy to provide you with an overview of recent Background Screening articles, from the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor Blog. We know that as HR professionals issues related to Background Screening of employees is important to you, and we think this information will be of  great interest.

The HR Law Matters blog is happy to provide you with an overview of recent Background Screening articles, from the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor Blog. We know that as HR professionals issues related to Background Screening of employees is important to you, and we think this information will be of  great interest.

7_Effective Workplace
Whether it’s allegations of favoritism, harassment, or unethical conduct, an efficient and impartial investigation can help employers root out actions that are harming the company and can provide evidence to support the company’s decision.  All too often investigations are conducted without a clear plan and assigned team, leading to conflicting…

Crisis concerns have occurred from the time of the pharaohs up through the Enron or Tylenol episodes of the last decade, and as recently as the VW manipulation of emission data.  What may be a small concern for one company could be a huge liability for another.  For employers, when a crisis erupts, the consequences can be a game of “Wheel of Fortune” – a misfortune, if handled improperly, or good fortune, for the employer’s reputation, to come out unscathed. A crisis management plan is no “one size fits all”.

More than ever before, companies are turning to contingent workers to meet their staffing needs.  Indeed, according to a recent SAP and Oxford Economics report, 83% of executives state that their companies are increasing their use of contingent workers.  But which type of contingent worker is best for your company? Leased employees? Temporary employees? Independent contractors? Companies often find themselves internally debating this issue. But with the penalties and liability associated with misclassification and handling of contingent workers so steep, there is no need to have this debate alone.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued new proposed regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to dramatically increase the minimum salary required for most exempt employees to remain exempt going forward.  The DOL regulations generated a huge number of comments, but now the DOL is getting ready to issue their final regulations and put the new requirements in place.

A Gartner Inc. Executive Program survey predicts that 50% of companies will require employees to provide their own devices for their jobs by 2017. If your employees use their own mobile phones to do work, it’s quite possible your company’s confidential information walks out the door every night. This raises cybersecurity concerns for a company’s intellectual property and confidential trade secrets. The need to secure a company’s protected information must also be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy. However, technology continues to push the expectation of worker productivity to wearable technologies (Apple Watch, anyone?). Does your company employ a BYOD policy? Are you confident that your company’s information is secure?