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Is Requiring Single Parent to Work Night Shift Family Status Discrimination?

by Ralph Nero and Ida Martin Can an employer require a single parent to start occasionally working the night shift? A recent board of arbitration decision out of Alberta answered — yes. This Alberta decision is the latest in our coverage of decisions wrestling with the workplace application of discrimination on the basis of family […]

Short-termism Always a Challenge for HR, says Al Gore

In yesterday’s Advisor, we got Steve Forbes’ and Al Gore’s take on critical HR issues. Today, Gore on short-term thinking and compensation, and an introduction to the “Compensation Bible.” Challenge #4: Organization Development [Go here for Challenges 1 to 3.] Gore worked on the “reinventing government” program at the country’s largest employer, the United States […]

Solis, Trumka Push for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Today the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) hosted a live webcast interview with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. During the webcast, both parties made the case for the necessity of comprehensive immigration reform, decrying individual state movements such as the controversial immigration law in Arizona as a means for racial profiling […]

Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Hardcover Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times on July 19. 1. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis. The people who saw the real estate crash coming and made billions from their foresight. 2. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm […]

DOL Offers Disability Law Advisor Tool Online

The Department of Labor (DOL) has a tool available on its website for employers that want to make sure their policies and practices don’t discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities. The online Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor, available at www.dol.gov/elaws/odep.htm, helps employers determine which federal disability nondiscrimination laws apply to their business, including: Title I of […]

All Eyes on Arizona

Arizona’s new immigration law, Senate Bill (SB) 1070, authorizes state and local law enforcement officials to inquire into the immigration status of any person “where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States.” The law regulates aliens directly, not by means of the employer-employee relationship. Nevertheless, […]

White House Expands Domestic Partner Benefits

President Barack Obama recently issued a memo directing federal agencies to extend benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of federal employees to the extent permitted by current law. The memo begins: For far too long, many of our Government’s hard-working, dedicated LGBT employees have been denied equal access to the basic rights and benefits their […]

Administaff Pays $115,000 For Religious Bias

Administaff, Inc., a nationwide company that provides full-service HR services to small and medium-size businesses, has agreed to pay $115,000 and furnish substantial remedial relief to settle a religious harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in Baltimore. According to the EEOC’s suit, Texas-based Administaff and Conn-x, LLC, a Florida-based cable service […]

Special: Forbes, Gore, and Meeting HR Challenges

“I used to be the next president of the United States,” Al Gore quipped, addressing a 10,000-person crowd at the Society for Human Resource Management’s recent Annual Conference and Exposition in San Diego. As the laughter died down, he added, “I don’t think that’s very funny.” Steve Forbes, the other headliner at the conference, says, […]

The Scranton Vampire Chronicles

Litigation Value: Settling various claims related to Dwight’s bat hunting = $30,000; replacing shredded textbook = $100; convincing your coworker you’re a vampire = priceless. Given that a colleague of mine has already thoroughly covered the employment law issues in last night’s repeat, let’s rewind to one of my favorite episodes from Season 3 — […]