Should Employees Expect Privacy with Work-Related Technology?
Your employees are talking and texting and tapping on their iPads 24-7, it seems. How far can you legally peek into what they’re doing?
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It Can Pay to Challenge Assumptions
By J. Robert Brame Social critics routinely criticize Western culture as being racist, sexist, xenophobic, and more recently, ageist and “lookist,” the latter being the widely asserted preference within our society for the more attractive over the less attractive, especially regarding women. Some of these “problems,” including racism, xenophobia, and ageism, have been enshrined in […]
National Origin Discrimination and English-Only Rules
By Troy D. Thompson In fiscal year (FY) 2009, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 11,134 charges involving claims of national origin discrimination ― an approximate 57 percent increase since 1999. Although the EEOC has not yet disclosed its statistics for FY 2010, all indications are that these claims continue to rise. Given that […]
EEOC Complaints Reach All-Time High
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency responsible for the enforcement of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, recently released its statistical data on fiscal year 2010 filings. The data indicated that workplace discrimination complaints against private sector firms reached an all-time high in 2010. The Commission reported that filings with the federal agency […]
Employee’s own testimony sinks her case
By Richard L. Rainey We often tell clients that not all lawsuits are filed because an employee has evidence of discrimination or believes she was discriminated against. Rather, sometimes they’re filed because the employee thinks she was treated unfairly. That concept is illustrated in a recent case out of Durham. Background Iretha Lawrence, an African […]
Workers’ Compensation—It Just Won’t Go Away
Worker’s comp—little changed for many years, yet still a hassle, day after day. In today’s Advisor, we’ll feature case studies—all based on real situations—that help us deal with this frustrating part of HR management. Can an Employee ‘Under the Influence’ Be Denied Workers’ Comp Benefits? Jason Kohler wore 42-inch drywall stilts on his job installing […]
‘Comp’ Time Confuses FMLA ‘Hours Worked’ Eligibility
This content was originally published in January 2010. For the latest FMLA regulation changes, visit our FMLA article archives or try our practical FMLA compliance guide. An employee is eligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) if, among other things, he or she has worked for the employer for at […]
Wisconsin Budget Bill Takes Tough Stance on Unions, Public Retirement Funds
By Troy D. Thompson On February 11, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker released details of his budget repair bill, a highly publicized measure directed at addressing the state’s budget crisis. Regardless of one’s political bent, there is no question that the bill, if adopted, will significantly change the landscape of public-sector employment in Wisconsin. The bill […]
Threat Level Midnight, a/k/a There’s An Hour of My Life I’ll Never Get Back
It was another nonproductive workday at The Office. After 10 years, Michael’s little known, self-written, self-produced, self-directed, and self-starred-in movie, Threat Level Midnight, finally debuted in Scranton. Despite a private staff-only viewing a few years back in which the movie was mistakenly taken for a comedy (it’s really Michael’s rip-off of James Bond and Austin Powers […]
3 Essential Employee Handbooks Tips
Your policies need to be up-to-date and legally sound, but there’s more to it than that. Today, 3 tips for handbook success.