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Employment Law

Heed FMLA rules during weeks before Christmas, New Year’s Day

11/16/2021
Dec. 24 and 31, while usually not official work holidays, fall on Fridays this year. To stretch it to a long holiday weekend and in recognition of employees’ hard work during trying times, many employers will close on these days. Other employers traditionally close during the holiday week. The Department of Labor warns that such closures can complicate your calculations of employees’ FMLA leave entitlements.

EEOC casts a skeptical eye on the use of AI in hiring

11/11/2021
Employers considering adding or expanding use of artificial intelligence programs to screen job applicants, take note: The EEOC has announced a new initiative to examine the use of AI in hiring.

Train executives on FLSA classification rules

11/11/2021
Plaintiffs’ lawyers love to file lawsuits alleging an employee was improperly classified as a manager under the Fair Labor Standards Act. That’s because just one misclassification mistake can force employers to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay and penalties. Avoid that fate by training everyone with the authority to set job duties, schedules and pay how to properly classify workers as either exempt or hourly.

EEOC: Customer preference irrelevant in hiring

11/11/2021
When the Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the EEOC began filing a series of lawsuits, like this one.

Survey: Most employers conduct pay equity reviews

11/09/2021
Nearly three in five employers—58%—voluntarily conduct pay equity reviews to identify possible pay differences between employees performing similar work, according to new research by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Firing during FMLA leave? Prove FMLA wasn’t reason

11/04/2021
Employees cannot be fired for taking FMLA leave. If you must terminate someone who has taken FMLA leave, be prepared to show it had nothing to do with their leave-taking. Do that by contemporaneously documenting what led to the termination and when you made the decision to fire.

Document ADA requests to prove good faith

11/04/2021
The ADA requires a disabled employee and her employer to have an interactive conversation to determine whether it’s possible to accommodate the disability and, if so, how. If the employee doesn’t participate in the interactive process, she won’t be able to sue successfully over a denied accommodation. That’s why it’s essential to document every interaction once you suspect an employee might be disabled.

Know the tech tools that aid union organizing

11/02/2021
Until recently, unhappy workers could only grouse among themselves during breaks or after work. Not anymore! Now, workers enthusiastically use social media to take their concerns public and initiate union-organizing activity. These are the tech tools workers are using to accelerate union organizing. Get familiar with them and monitor them so you have time to develop an effective response.

‘Attractive people should expect harassment’: Really!?

10/28/2021
When a female security guard complained that a male co-worker verbally and physically harassed her, her supervisor’s only response was telling her “she should expect sexual harassment based on her appearance.”

Review points-based attendance system now

10/28/2021
Some employers use a points-based system to punish employees whose unplanned absences wreak havoc on operations. It can be effective. However, a system that’s too draconian or doesn’t allow for reasonable exceptions may invite litigation, especially from employees who claim they have an ADA-covered disability.