Month: May 2013

PTO Policy OK? 11 Questions You Need to Answer

Unfortunately, to complicate matters, many state laws (and some city laws) cover sick time and/or vacation time, so proceed with caution, says Marques, an associate in the New York office of Holland & Knight LLP. She offered her tips at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR® and HR Hero®. PTO Policy Decisions Are Important Policy […]

Gender Pay Gaps—Which Occupations Are Worst?

Pat Shiu, Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, was joined for the chat by Latifa Lyles, Acting Director of the Women’s Bureau (WB), and Jennifer Hunt, chief economist at the Department of Labor (DOL). [Go here for yesterday’s questions and answers] Question from Annalyn Kurtz: In what occupations is the pay gap […]

OFCCP on Pay Equality: ‘We Must Do More’

Latifa Lyles, Acting Director of the Women’s Bureau (WB), noted that today, full-time female workers earn on average only 81 percent of what their male counterparts earn. For African-American females and Latinas, the wage ratio is substantially lower: 68 cents and 59 cents, respectively. But the real cost of the pay gap is more than […]

Canada’s temporary foreign worker program set to change

By Thora A. Sigurdson Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) has been under fire of late. Temporary foreign workers sued Denny’s. Latin American tunnel diggers brought a human rights complaint against SELI. A British Columbia union complained that miners from China were taking jobs in northern B.C. And the Royal Bank’s decision to contract out […]

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 […]