Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
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.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA) makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against pregnant employees and requires reasonable accommodations for an employee’s known limitations related to pregnancy or childbirth. Let’s look at how the PDA and the PWFA affect employers who have pregnant employees. We’ll be using West Virginia’s version as an example, […]
While businesses typically take extensive steps to avoid layoffs, they’re unfortunately part of the business life cycle. As the United States has had a recent uptick in layoffs across various industries, employers should be aware of the potential impact to their permanent residence (green card) immigration programs. The PERM (or labor certification) application is one […]
Many workplace concerns arose during the COVID-19 pandemic or were preexisting but were exacerbated by it. One such issue is employee monitoring. Employers normally monitor employees extensively—timekeeping, project billing, performance evaluations, etc.—but the explosion of remote work during the pandemic created a lucrative market for more extensive monitoring processes. Monitoring Basics Monitoring can take a […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a new report finding that nearly half of workplace accommodations made for people with disabilities can be implemented at no cost to employers, and of those that do incur a one-time cost, the median expenditure has decreased when compared to previous reports to only $300. According to the DOL, an […]
You may have a terrific HR team that’s quick to respond to employee concerns, delivers information to employees efficiently, and understands the humans who work for your company truly are its best resource. But if you’re looking to really uplevel your HR game, you may consider bringing an ombuds on board. What Is an Ombuds? […]
As summer heats up, employers in the Southwest should keep a close eye on how heat affects their workforce. Heat-related illness is a hot topic for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as well as state OSHA plans. Recently, an unusual settlement involved the Department of Labor (DOL) and OSHA over several heat […]
On May 1, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Murray v. UBS Securities. Murray is a whistleblower retaliation case brought under the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). Plaintiff Trevor Murray alleges he was terminated in retaliation for raising concerns to his supervisor about his employer (UBS) committing fraud on shareholders. The jury delivered a $1 million […]
A worker sued her former employer for wrongful termination in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), claiming the employer’s conduct subjected her to severe emotional distress. On March 16, 2023, the New Jersey Appellate Division ruled her private social media accounts and personal cell phone records are relevant and must be turned […]
Over the years, the NLRB has taken various positions regarding what activities might “chill” an employee’s right to organize, with some directors being very narrow in their interpretation and others extremely expansive. In evaluating whether language and severance agreements “chilled” these rights in 2020, the Board looked at both the plain language of the agreement […]
Remote work has skyrocketed in popularity since the beginning of the pandemic. Of course, there are many advantages to this practice, including access to a broader candidate pool and fewer real estate expenses. However, an important consideration is employees’ physical location. This compels HR professionals to familiarize themselves with employment laws of multiple states because […]