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.

More Flexibility with Form I-9 Compliance Expected in 2022

Like nearly all aspects of employment law today, immigration law hasn’t been immune from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trend is likely to continue throughout 2022, particularly with regard to employment authorization documentation. The federal government is looking to consider additional flexibility for employers working to comply with the requirements.

religious

Friday Night Lights Meets Supreme Court: Will Religious Freedom Get the Game Ball?

Many of our readers are school districts or public employers whose employment law issues sometimes diverge from those of private businesses. Here is one: Government employers must respect employees’ First Amendment rights to free speech and religious expression. Private employers have no such legal duty. The contours of the rights (essentially to be free from […]

New Government Contractor AAP Verification Process in the Works

Last fall, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) received approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to implement a new online platform—the Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI)—to collect information from covered federal contractors (including covered subcontractors) about their AAPs. Read on to learn when the portal will go live, although […]

Recertification Request Doesn’t Interfere with FMLA Rights

An employer’s request for medical recertification to establish eligibility for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave didn’t violate the Act, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Arkansas) recently ruled. Missing 16 consecutive days rather than the expected four to five days set forth in the original medical certification was a significant […]

Unconditional Offer to Reinstate Employee Prevents Wrongful Discharge Claim

I often receive calls from employers that say they just met with an employee to talk about job performance, the session didn’t go well, and now the company has received a bizarre communication from the individual and doesn’t know how to proceed. After I’ve read the message and talked with the employer, it becomes clear […]

Guns at Work: Keeping Employees Safe in Troubling Times

Every year, nearly two million American workers report being workplace violence victims, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In fact, homicide is the fifth-leading cause of workplace fatalities in the United States, accounting for eight percent of all fatal on-the-job injuries. Nearly half of all states, however, now have laws in some […]

Top 10 Noncompete Law Developments of the Past Year

Lawmakers and courts continued to demonstrate hostility toward noncompete and no-hire agreements in 2021. The activity underscores employers’ need to stay current on the diverse state-specific limitations governing restrictive covenants, new federal activity in the area, and ongoing case law developments.

Employers Can’t Fire Employees for Placing Rebuttal in Their Personnel File After All

Last March, we wrote about a surprising ruling in which the Massachusetts Appeals Court concluded employers in the state aren’t legally prohibited from firing employees for exercising their right to file a rebuttal in response to a negative document placed in their personnel file. The decision wasn’t unanimous, the dissenting opinion was persuasive, and the […]

Extension of Form I-9 Verification Flexibilities May Signal Major Change

Since March 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its enforcement agency, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have issued changing guidance on how and when an employer may satisfy the Form I-9 in-person inspection requirements during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since April 1, 2021, they have allowed employers to delay […]