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

Employment Law

ADA: Beware job descriptions so rigid that accommodations become impossible

03/13/2019
Employers may reject a proposed disability accommodation out of hand, thinking every job requirement is truly essential to getting the work done. But courts want to see some flexibility.

Supreme Court hands win to injured workers

03/13/2019
The Minnesota Supreme Court has overturned a 30-year-old decision that prevented injured workers from receiving workers’ compensation benefits and also suing their employers for discrimination.

Missed EEOC deadline doesn’t rule out lawsuit

03/12/2019
If you haven’t heard from a former employee by the time the EEOC’s 180-day deadline for filing a complaint passes, you can probably safely assume the termination won’t turn into a discrimination lawsuit. However, there is one way a former employee can revive her chance to sue.

Muted reaction to DOL’s overtime salary threshold proposed rule

03/12/2019
Reaction to the Department of Labor’s March 7 announcement of a 50% increase in the salary threshold has mostly focused on the practical details. Here’s what people are saying.

1st steps: Gauge impact of new OT threshold

03/12/2019
Start strategizing how to respond by identifying who on your staff would be affected by the new salary threshold rule.

DOL releases new proposed overtime rules

03/08/2019
After two years of speculation, false starts and hand-wringing, the U.S. Department of Labor has finally published its much-anticipated overhaul of the nation’s overtime rules.

Federal court revives EEO-1 pay reporting requirement

03/07/2019
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 4 vacated a Trump administration stay of an EEO-1 reporting requirement that was promulgated during the Obama administration but never implemented.

Ensure call-ins state reason for absence

03/07/2019
Unless you have a call-in protocol that allows you to convincingly argue that an employee didn’t provide enough information to classify the absence as qualifying for FMLA leave, it’s her word against yours.

Sexual innuendo can be sex discrimination

03/07/2019
Here’s a new worry, courtesy of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals: Allowing—or worse yet participating in—rumors that a female employee is allegedly “sleeping with the boss” to get ahead may trigger a sex discrimination lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Staffer’s assault claims cost Jackson Lee two House posts

03/06/2019
Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has agreed to step down from two positions in the U.S. House of Representatives after a former Capitol Hill staffer filed a lawsuit alleging she had been fired for reporting she was sexually assaulted by a co-worker.