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Sex Discrimination Guidelines: ‘Outdated and Inaccurate’

Existing sex discrimination guidelines (found at 41 C.F.R. part 60-20) have not been significantly updated since 1970. Since employer policies and practices—and the workplace itself—have changed dramatically since then, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has started action to update its guidelines.

Employee Pay Deductions Can Cost You—Be Careful!

Some employers believe that deducting from an employee’s pay can be done at their own discretion. However, the law scrutinizes pay deductions very closely, and the scope of acceptable situations for them may be far narrower than you think. Attorney Ted Boehm shares what you need to know.

Can You Fire A Policy Violator Who’s Out on CFRA Leave?

The California Supreme Court issued a recent decision on whether courts may vacate (toss out) an arbitration award in which the arbitrator applied the “honest belief” defense to uphold the employer’s termination of an employee for engaging in outside employment in violation of company policy while on an approved leave of absence under the California […]

Duty to accommodate doesn’t require exempting employee from essential duties

by Andrew Bratt and Megan Rolland Canadian human rights legislation generally requires employers to accommodate the disabilities of their employees up to the point of undue hardship. In the recent case of Pourasadi v. Bentley Leathers Inc. (2015 HRTO 138), the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario considered whether undue hardship was reached in the context […]

Staying on solid legal ground when seeking brain diversity in the workforce

The benefits of diversity in the workplace are nearly universally touted. Human resources professionals are eager to assemble teams representing a variety of races, ethnicities, genders, and ages. But now another kind of diversity is gaining recruiters’ attention: brain diversity.  A December 2014 article on the Fortune website reports that companies are beginning to seek […]

The business case for diversity

by Kimberly Williams Recently, my employer, Baystate Health, organized a regional Diversity and Inclusion Conference. While promoting the event on social media, I shared a video clip of one of the conference presenters who was making the “business case” for diversity. One of my Facebook friends asked, “Why are we still making a business case […]

Interrupting gender bias: Fire away!

by Michael P. Maslanka I am honored to be a Bedford mentor at the University of North Texas School of Law in Dallas. Mentors divide into numerous small groups with students, and each group reads a different book on a matter of public interest. Our book is Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What […]

Are you obligated to notify employees of coworker out on leave with contagious illness?

by H. Mark Adams Q An employee recently came to HR and said she has meningitis. She is now out on leave. What is our obligation—if any—to notify other employees?  A As someone who has survived meningitis during my professional career, I have more than passing knowledge about this subject. It’s highly unlikely that any […]