Author: Colorado Employment Law Letter

Preventing workplace bullying: Start with training and a good policy

by Sue Woods Generally, workplace bullying can be defined as repeated unreasonable actions directed toward an employee or a group of employees that are intended to intimidate, degrade, or humiliate. In some cases, workplace bullying may involve misuse or abuse of power by supervisors or managers. In other cases, it may involve a group of […]

Training too weird even for Austin

by Mark R. Flora Perhaps you have already heard about the recent firestorm created during a diversity training session for city employees in, of all places, Austin, the capital of political correctness. The training was actually held in March, but the uproar followed an article in the Statesman in May. The hue and cry was […]

Long wait for Dodd-Frank standards turns out to be much ado about nothing

by H. Mark Adams “Much ado about nothing” is just one literary turn of phrase that comes to mind when considering the initial uproar over Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the long wait for its implementing regulations. Here’s some background to add some perspective to that observation.  […]

Interactions with Asperger’s: Discrimination, wrongful discharge claims go to trial

Soon after an employee provided his employer with information about his Asperger’s syndrome, it informed him that his contract wouldn’t be renewed because “Your Asperger’s got in the way of your ability to interact with your boss, and we are tired of it.” Afterward, the employee brought claims of wrongful termination and discrimination under the […]

DOL issues updated FMLA forms

by Amanda Shelby The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issues forms for employers to use in the administration of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. On the heels of the old forms expiring earlier this year, the DOL has issued new forms. The revisions update the expired forms to reference the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination […]

Employers urged to plan now for changes new overtime rules will bring

A regulatory change expected to make some 5 million more employees eligible for overtime pay likely won’t take effect for a year or more, but employers are urged to plan now how they will cope with the change.  David Fortney and Judith Kramer, attorneys with Fortney & Scott, LLC in Washington, D.C., recently conducted a […]

Don’t let one person’s lack of planning bring the whole team down

by Dan Oswald Have you ever seen a sign that says something like “lack of planning on your part doesn’t constitute an emergency on mine” hanging in someone’s office or retail establishment? If you think about it for a minute, it’s surprising how often an unplanned or unanticipated event for one person turns into an […]

To kill Atticus Finch? HR pros aren’t afraid of the truth

It’s been a long time since I, like nearly any person educated in the United States, read Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Now, like many other readers out there, it’s back on my bedside table since Ms. Lee consented to publication of her other manuscript, Go Set a Watchman. I haven’t tackled it yet, […]

BC Court of Appeal takes a narrow view of the SCC’s New Labour Trilogy

By Christopher Pigott In a previous article, we reported on the Supreme Court of Canada’s “New Labour Trilogy,” a set of three landmark constitutional law decisions released in January 2015 that raised questions about basic aspects of Canada’s labor relations system. Unsurprisingly, the decisions sparked a huge debate in the Canadian labor law community as […]

New law allows veteran preference for private employers in Nebraska

by Mark M. Schorr Private employers in Nebraska will be allowed to implement policies giving hiring preference to veterans when a new law takes effect on August 30. Legislative Bill 272 will allow private employers with one or more employees to have a preference for veterans in hiring decisions without violating other laws that prohibit […]