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

Employment Law

Managing today’s workforce: Teenagers and sexual harassment

03/04/2010

Federal and state laws that protect employees in general also protect young people in the workplace. But because of their youth and inexperience, teenage employees may be more vulnerable to harassment than other workers. The EEOC has launched the “Youth at Work” initiative in response to several high-profile teen sexual harassment cases.

State Regulations vs. IRS Rules

03/03/2010

HR Law 101: Don’t overlook state laws, which may provide more protection for independent contractors. While the IRS is largely concerned with the issue of who collects and who pays taxes on earnings, states have different interests to protect. Thus, some states may prefer for some contractors to be considered employees under the IRS rule.

Retaliation nation: Reacting to complaint? Zip it!

03/03/2010

Ever since the EEOC began tracking discrimination complaints, race bias has been the most popular claim. Not anymore. Claims of employer retaliation now top the charts—33,613 claims in fiscal 2009. This means managers, supervisors (and you) need to be more careful than ever to avoid lashing out against employees or applicants who file—or simply voice—complaints of discrimination.

5 common I-9 mistakes

03/02/2010

It is remarkable that a seemingly simple, one-page form—the Form I-9—can cause so many headaches. But who ever said a government form was easy, much less an immigration-related form. Here are the most common mistakes employers make.

Obama budget: DOL to boost enforcement, IC crackdown

03/01/2010

President Obama’s 2011 budget plan calls for the U.S. Department of Labor to hire 100 new enforcement personnel and gain $25 million in new funding to target employers that misclassify workers as independent contractors (ICs).

Offer ‘something extra’ for age claims waiver

03/01/2010

If you offer severance pay to discharged workers, take note. If you’re terminating an older employee—and you ask the employee to waive the right to sue for alleged age discrimination in exchange for your severance package—be sure to offer something more than what you offer others who lose their jobs.

National origin isn’t just about nationality

03/01/2010

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bars discrimination based on national origin. What constitutes national origin is broader than you might assume. According to the EEOC, national origin can be defined as the place where someone or her ancestors came from. But national origin is also a factor if someone has the “physical, cultural or linguistic characteristics of a national-origin group.”

Ignore harassment at your peril: It could embolden harasser and end in disaster

03/01/2010

It isn’t enough just to have a sexual harassment policy. You have to enforce it, investigating all complaints and then putting a stop to any behavior that could reasonably be interpreted as sexual harassment. Otherwise, the harasser might simply grow bolder. And that can spell disaster, especially if a jury winds up hearing from lots of other employees who came forward to complain over the course of months or years before the harassment got bad enough to warrant a lawsuit.

Workers hired through temp service? Normal anti-discrimination rules still apply

03/01/2010

Warn supervisors and managers: They should treat temporary workers who come to you via an employment service or agency just like they do other employees. All the normal rules on workplace discrimination still apply. That means temps who experience harassment or discrimination may be able to sue both the temp agency and your company for that discrimination.

DOL no longer a roadblock: Floodgates open for more federal whistle-blower lawsuits

03/01/2010

Until recently, there was a predictable destination for most whistle-blowing cases filed by disgruntled employees who reported corporate wrongdoing under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: a large pile of folders languishing at the U.S. Department of Labor. But now the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has changed all that.