Category: HR Management & Compliance

There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.

Identifying Sources of Free Training

Many companies refer to their employees as their greatest asset. The skills, experience, education, and training of their workforce are what gives them their competitive advantage. But, when it comes to training, cost is often a major factor in how frequently, and how well, organizations ensure employees have the right information and resources to do their […]

Sick leave

Additional Guidance Now Available for Maryland Healthy Working Families Act

As we previously reported, just over 1 month ago Maryland became the ninth state to enact a paid sick leave law when Governor Larry Hogan’s previous veto of the law was overridden. Despite some legislative efforts to delay the rapid, and somewhat unplanned, approach of its effective date, the law took effect as planned on […]

compensation

$608 in Unpaid Overtime Cost Texas Employer $41,333 in Attorneys’ Fees

By the way, the amount of attorneys’ fees in the headline is not the amount the employer paid its lawyers. Oh, no—that’s the amount it had to pay the employee’s lawyers for suing to recover the $608 in unpaid overtime. To make the disparity even stranger, the employee lost two of his three claims at […]

discrimination

Pretextual Failure to Promote Produce Worker Is a Recipe for Disaster

HR professionals are all too familiar with the McDonnell-Douglas burden-shifting standard for establishing discrimination from circumstantial evidence. Under the standard, an employee presents a prima facie (minimally sufficient) case that he belongs to a protected class and suffered an adverse action. The employer then presents a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for its action, and he in […]

time

6th Circuit Shows Fine Line Between Exempt and Nonexempt Duties

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals—which covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee—recently held that employees were sometimes exempt from receiving overtime but were not exempt other times. The deciding factor was a very slight difference between the discretionary authority exercised in each role.

DACA Developments are Front-Burner Issue for Employers

With new headlines seeming to pop up daily as the courts and Congress address the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, employers have their hands full keeping track of how the national immigration debate affects their workers.

metoo

Morgan Stanley Wins Bet on Untimeliness to Scotch Sexual Harassment Claim

2017 saw an unprecedented number of people come forward with stories of hostile work environments dating back 20 years or more. The impact of those stories has undoubtedly left countless people (and possibly their employers) worrying that their improper conduct from years ago may be the next story to break.

romance

Managing Romance in the Workplace

Valentine’s Day is here and as most people know, falling in love is simply wonderful.  Falling out of love?  Not so much.  And when romantic relationships happen in the workplace, employers need to be sure they’ve taken steps to keep romance from becoming a legal liability.

love

Unhappy Valentine’s Day? Workplace Romances at a 10-Year Low

Is the current climate around sexual harassment driving down the number of workers dating coworkers? Maybe. According to CareerBuilder’s Annual Valentine’s Day survey conducted by The Harris Poll, office romance is at a 10-year low, with 36% of workers reporting dating a coworker, down from 41% last year and 40% in 2008.