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Age diversity becoming new priority for employers

The statistics don’t lie. More people are planning to work beyond what once was a traditional retirement age. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has projected that the primary working-age group—those ages 25-54—will decline from 66.9 percent of the labor force in 2010 to 63.7 percent in 2020. Workers 55 and older are projected […]

She works hard for the money

by Kylie Crawford TenBrook Several years ago, I attended a celebration for one of my brothers, who had just become an Eagle Scout. Several relatives were there, including some distant relatives I hadn’t seen in years. One of those distant relatives, who is close to my age, approached me, and the following exchange took place. […]

Balancing act: religious accommodations vs. diversity goals

by Tara Martens Miller Freedom to believe and practice your own religion is a strongly held American value as well as a right recognized by  the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and most state organizations charged with receiving and investigating claims of discrimination. Sometimes, however, an employee’s expression of religious beliefs in the workplace can […]

Key Factors that Make PTO Work

Yesterday’s Advisor featured attorney Katherine Marques’ 11 questions to ask in designing a PTO policy. Today, she shares key success factors for PTO, plus we introduce the all-HR-in-one-place website, HR.BLR.com®. Marques, an associate in the New York office of Holland & Knight LLP, offered her tips at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR® and HR […]

Beware of sex-stereotyping claims

by Taylor Chapman In many situations, it is relatively easy to understand what constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex. For instance, you cannot refuse to hire an applicant because she is a woman or treat a female employee differently from a male employee because of her sex. The legal requirements become more uncertain, however, […]

NLRB nominees face opposition during Senate committee hearing

On May 16, President Barack Obama’s nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) went before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and the two nominees who were selected as recess appointees in 2012 failed to impress the committee’s ranking member, Senator Lamar Alexander. Alexander (R-Tennessee) said he would oppose the nominations of […]

Finale

Litigation Value:  Bless your heart if you’re still keeping track at this point. This blog has always focused on bad behavior.  We tease out employment law issues by writing about the characters who do things in the workplace that one simply does not do. So last night’s series finale of the The Office poses quite […]

Senate to debate comp time option for private employers after House passes Working Families Flexibility Act

On May 8, 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 1406, the Working Families Flexibility Act, which would allow employers to offer compensatory time off in lieu of time-and-a-half cash wages for overtime. Employees would be allowed to “cash out” unused comp time within specified periods of time. While the Society for Human Resource […]

49ers Make Long-Term Investment in Character, Forgo Short-Term Gains

The football 49ers recently made a long-term investment in character, leaving on the table a substantial short-term gain, says business and leadership blogger Dan Oswald. Is that a sound business strategy for you? Oswald, CEO of BLR®, offered these thoughts on character (and a recent 49er’s draft decision) in a recent edition of The Oswald […]

Record $240M ADA Award Likely to Be Reduced

The largest jury award ever for a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit must be reduced to meet a statutory cap, the commission noted May 10 in final court filings. A court will have the final say over whether the award will be reduced, however. A jury on May 2 awarded $240 million to 32 […]