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.

criminal record

Illinois Bias Law Now Covers Criminal Convictions

Illinois employers now have yet another law to navigate. The state human rights statute now bans discrimination based on a candidate’s or employee’s criminal conviction unless the employer can show a “substantial relationship” exists between the conviction and the job or that the employment would involve an “unreasonable risk” to property or safety. Conviction Records […]

FMLA

Q&A: Determining Whether Elective Surgeries Are Covered Under FMLA

Q: An employee is having an elective surgery that won’t require an overnight hospital stay, but she will be off work for two weeks to recover and will possibly have some restrictions afterward. Will her surgery and time off be covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)? A: Under the FMLA, an eligible […]

union

7th Circuit Holds Winery Violated NLRA Over ‘Cellar Lives Matter’ Slogan

The 7th Circuit recently upheld a decision from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in a case involving Woodbridge Winery. The ruling cemented employees’ right to display a pro-union message on their clothing, despite the employer’s actions to remove the messaging from the workplace. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects an employee’s right to […]

remote work

How the Rise of Remote Work Is Reshaping Analytical Trends

Although catapulted to new heights by COVID-19, remote work was on the rise even before the pandemic. In 2019, a Zapier report revealed that 95% of U.S. workers desired to work remotely and that 74% were even willing to quit their job in order to do so. At the time, reduced commuting costs, flexible locations, […]

money balance

7th Circuit Sends Sex-Based Salary Comments Back to the 1950s

As any high schooler with a smartphone will tell you, your words can haunt you long after you utter them. One high school recently learned the same is true for its employees, thanks to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Read on to see why the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose decisions apply […]

company culture

Post-Pandemic Office Reorientation

As staff start returning to the office, is it time for companies to consider implementing mandatory re­orientation programs? As the United States continues its nationwide vaccination efforts, states and cities across the country are starting to open up, relaxing capacity limits on indoor spaces, removing mask requirements, and allowing larger events. This also means that […]

HR Works Podcast: AWS on How to Train 29 Million

A recent McKinsey report found that 100 million workers across the globe will need to find new jobs by 2030. That comes to about 17 million Americans that will be transitioning to a new career. However, an Amazon-commissioned Accenture report found that 33 million low-income Americans could be upskilled for emerging jobs with the right […]

Idaho At-Will Employees Have Standing to Sue Employer for Fraudulent Hiring

The Idaho Supreme Court recently rendered a decision highlighting an important distinction between wrongful discharge and “fraudulent hiring,” the latter of which allows at-will employees to sue their former employer. Background Employment in Idaho is presumed to be “at-will” unless contractually stated otherwise. In other words, with very few exceptions, an employment relationship has no […]

Employers’ Top 5 COVID-19 Vaccination Questions Answered

The introduction of COVID-19 vaccines has created many questions in the workplace for employers. In this alert, we address five of the most popular vaccine-related questions, including vaccine mandates, mask mandates, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations. 1. Once the COVID-19 vaccine is fully authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), may non-healthcare […]