Remember the Georgia employer who dumped 500 pounds of oily pennies on the driveway of a former employee who complained to the DOL after he didn’t receive his final paycheck? Did that amount to FLSA retaliation? As you might’ve guessed, the company’s response didn’t go over too well. DOL: Stunt looks like FLSA retaliation Who […]
Keeping workers engaged and purpose-driven is an important part of HR’s job, but so is keeping your company out of court because of pitfalls related to the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and more. In HRMorning’s “Voices of HR” podcast, we asked attorney Katherin Nukk-Freeman […]
Is it possible for music played at work to constitute discrimination based on sex? Yes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled in a new decision. Music that has “sexually derogatory and violent content, played constantly and publicly throughout the workplace, can foster a hostile or abusive environment,” the court said. […]
When employers have to make the difficult decision to fire employees, they need to make sure that they do not act in an unlawful manner — they need to avoid wrongful termination. Generally, employment in the U.S. is “at will,” meaning that employees can be let go for any reason – or for no reason […]
When employers decide to part ways with employees, they often choose the route of offering up a severance agreement. A severance agreement is a contract that provides departing employees with extra benefits (such as a lump sum monetary payment), typically in exchange for a release of liability. A properly drafted severance agreement provides several valuable […]
The move toward a federal ban on non-compete agreements inched forward with the issuance of a new government memo that says the use of these agreements usually violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Jennifer Abruzzo, who is general counsel at the National Labor Relations Board, issued the memo. Though she technically acts independently from […]
Expressing a hiring preference for a particular gender can be a very dangerous thing for employers to do. Why? Because there is a good chance it will lead to a claim of unlawful discrimination – and that the claim will succeed. An Indiana employer just learned that lesson the hard way, agreeing to settle an […]
A new NLRB decision means employers must proceed very carefully before disciplining employees who get a little heated while engaging in union activity. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) gives employees the right to form labor organizations and “to engage in … concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or […]
A recent lawsuit provides a case study on what NOT to do when handling employee complaints. How bad was it? A jury awarded an eight-figure payout to a fired worker. To avoid similar mistakes, download our Practical Tools guide on handling employee complaints. Here’s what happened – and where the company went wrong: Company fired […]
Heads up, HR: The Department of Labor (DOL) just released new PUMP Act guidance to help employers comply with the law. As you probably recall, the agency just started PUMP Act enforcement last month — so the timing of this new resource is spot on. First things first: If you aren’t familiar with Field Assistance […]
Saying it is the “capstone” of its resources on the subject, the EEOC has issued another update to its COVID-19 guidance. Demonstrating the fluidity of the situation presented by the pandemic, the agency has now updated this guidance about 20 times since its initial release. Let’s dive in and take a look at some notable […]
A longtime meatpacking plant worker who was terminated after sending a profane text to his plant manager was unable to convince Iowa’s highest court that the real reason for his discharge was unlawful age bias. For a long period of time, David Feeback enjoyed a prosperous tenure as an employee of a Swift Pork Company […]
What’s solid evidence of race bias, and what’s not? In this lawsuit, a Black worker claimed that the use of the nickname “Sly,” together with other allegations he offered, showed illegal race bias in the workplace. A federal appeals court was not convinced, and in Wince v. CBRE, Inc., it upheld a lower court’s ruling […]
An unpublished court ruling says that “employers may not circumvent Title VII protections by ‘fractioning’ an employee’s job.” Huh? Let’s explain what the court meant by job “fractioning” in the context of the case – and why it’s important for employers to understand the idea. Carolyn Spears became a full-time faculty member at Louisiana College […]
A national company will pay more than $67,000 after making a paternity leave mistake that looked a lot like retaliation to the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD). First things first: Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), both mothers and fathers have a federal legal right to take leave within the first year […]
A new EEOC lawsuit is taking aim at a Michigan hospital that allegedly violated federal law by denying a job applicant’s request to be excused from a generally applicable flu shot requirement. The suit targets Mercy Health St. Mary’s, which is a hospital in Grand Rapids. The agency says Mercy Health illegally rescinded a job […]
