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Employment Law

Echoes of Virginia Tech: ‘Copycat comments’ lead to firings around U.S.

06/13/2007

“If I get one more write-up, if you think they had a problem in Virginia, it’ll be worse here.” That comment by  a Suffolk County (NY) Community College employee led to his arrest. At SeaWorld in Florida, a “joke” about the Virginia Tech shootings earned an employee the same fate. Here’s how to handle such comments in your organization. Plus, learn the 8 warning signs of violent worker behavior. 

Supreme Court affirms that FLSA doesn’t apply to all employees

06/12/2007

A Supreme Court case narrowly focused on FLSA protections for home health care workers may signal a broader trend worth watching. Is a conservative high court now more inclined to defer to federal agency interpretations of the law even when those interpretations limit employee rights? A new EEOC age discrimination case that could reach the Supreme Court might tell the tale.

Supreme Court to hear key age-discrimination case next term

06/05/2007

The ink on the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest employment-law decision was barely dry before the court voted to hear yet another important employment-discrimination case—this one concerning age discrimination.

Federal employment law spotlight: FLSA, OSHA, wage discrimination

06/05/2007

Two new resources on federal compliance and a legislative attempt to address last week’s Supreme Court decision on pay discrimination head this week’s news from Washington.

EEOC speaks out against ‘Language preference’ bias

06/01/2007

It’s not just about “English-only” rules anymore. Now employers have to worry if they discriminate among the different languages they allow employees to speak at work …

Are your policies biased against employee caregivers?

06/01/2007

If you’ve never heard of “family-responsibility discrimination,” or FRD, you soon will. This subset of sex discrimination is a form of gender bias brought by employees who claim they were treated unfairly because they fulfilled caregiving roles for children or elderly parents …

Bosses make hiring decision within 10 minutes

06/01/2007

While execs spend an average of 55 minutes interviewing staff-level applicants (and 86 minutes for management candidates), they form an opinion of job-seekers in an average of 10 minutes …

Spike in immigration raids: enforcement or politics?

06/01/2007

Immigration raids at U.S. workplaces have jumped by more than 50 percent in the past six months, according to new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stats. ICE is also stepping up prosecution of employers …

Survey: Men Upset About Female Co-Workers’ Flex Time

06/01/2007

Remind managers that approvals for flex-time requests should be gender-neutral. A new Adecco survey shows that men believe that moms at their workplace are given special treatment when it comes to flex time …

Design bonus payments to reduce OT liability

06/01/2007
Do you hand out discretionary bonuses? If so, you may be paying more overtime than necessary—and mishandling bonus payments could land you in court.