HR can be personally liable for ignoring sexual harassment claims: Earlier this year, a Delaware judge issued a landmark decision in a case involving fast food giant McDonalds.  The Court ruled that shareholders can sue not only the corporation but also its former chief people officer, David Fairhurst, over allegations that as CHRO, Fairhurst turned a blind eye to a toxic workplace atmosphere of rampant sexual misconduct.  The shareholders alleged that the lack of action led McDonalds’ shares to lose value. The ruling is a first because HR can be personally sued if they fail to do their job with respect to sexual harassment allegations.  Source: Human Resources Executive 3/2/23

Why layoffs? Blame labor hoarding:  Until last year, Madelyn Machado, 33 years old, worked for Meta. Except she says she didn’t really work at all.  Ms. Machado, who held a position as a recruiter, says that after joining the company in September 2021, she spent much of her time in meetings that didn’t accomplish anything, and that the parent of Facebook and Instagram had too many recruiters and not enough work for them to do.  “They were hiring ahead of demand,” says Vijay Govindarajan, professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. A shortage of tech talent at the time, he says, contributed to a sense of urgency that fueled recent hiring sprees. When there’s a war for talent, “you want to hire ahead of others,” he says. Other sectors such as the finance industry in the early 2000s, he says, similarly over-hired during periods of fast growth, leaving some workers without enough to do.  Source:  The Wall Street Journal 4/7/23

Diabetes rising in workplace:  As part of the Nomi Health Trends in Spend Tracker — a series using claims analysis data to call attention and action to key shifts in health care costs — Nomi Health analyzed nearly half a million employer health insurance claims to reveal changes in employer spend on diabetes.  The study found that diabetes costs U.S. employers approximately $245 billion a year — more than double what the entire American automotive industry is worth, according to data analyzed by Nomi Health. Employers spend more than $175 billion annually on direct medical and pharmacy costs for diabetic members, in addition to nearly $70 billion on indirect costs from employee absenteeism, reduced productivity, and diabetes-related disability, the research showed.   Source:  CCH 3/23/23

Make sure to post updated labor law posters:  The EEOC can now fine employers up to $659 for failing to post required nondiscrimination notices starting Thursday. The change represents an increase from the previous $612 maximum.  The fine can be assessed for each offense. Employers must place notices where workers will see them — often at a physical location, online, or both, according to EEOC — and ensure they are accessible to workers with disabilities.  The agency updated its poster in October 2022, adding a QR code that, when scanned, directs users to information on filing an EEOC complaint.  If you have disgruntled employees, don’t allow them this opportunity to report you.  If you need updated posters, go to ASE’s Labor Law Posters page.  ASE members save 15%.

Lawsuits concerning personal pronouns:  Employers are increasingly encountering situations in which workers claim a faith-based objection to using a transgender co-worker's pronouns or name – clashes that force them to navigate an unsettled legal landscape, experts say. "The issue of balancing sincerely held religious beliefs and practices with the rights of the LGBTQ+ community is something that is pretty regularly coming up," Jackson Lewis PC principal Michelle Phillips said. Whether misgendering in the workplace can run afoul of federal anti-discrimination laws is unclear. The U.S. Supreme Court declared in its blockbuster Bostock decision three years ago that Title VII bars discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, but the justices did not substantively address pronoun use in the ruling. But the EEOC, the federal government's primary enforcer of workplace discrimination laws, attempted to add clarity on the subject in its subsequent guidance on Bostock, where it said that intentionally and repeatedly using the wrong name and pronouns to refer to a transgender employee could contribute to an unlawful hostile work environment. "The flaw is when the employer has a knee-jerk reaction to things," says Phillips. "Practically, the employer needs to engage in a good faith dialogue to see if they can come up with a reasonable response." Source:  Law360 3/15/23

Too many clicks to apply for a job: As more members of Gen Z join the workforce (which will be the largest segment of the workforce in a few years), they have increasingly shunned traditional hiring practices, seeking jobs via social media instead — and employers need to keep up.   For Gen Z, using social media is second nature. Over half of Gen Z spends four hours or more on social media daily, according to a survey by Morning Consult. Being accustomed to brief communication across multiple networks impacts their expectations about all areas of life, including employment, and makes the practice of completing long, arduous online applications simply archaic. Research by talent engagement platform AtlasJobs shows that the average online application takes 51 clicks, and 92% of job candidates abandon these applications along the way. That's a lot of lost potential.  "The most progressive generation America has ever seen is walking into one of the oldest environments we have," says Jo Webber, CEO of AtlasJobs. "There's a disconnect with employers." Recent research shows that eight out of 10 job seekers use social media, with that being how 73% of job seekers aged 18-34 found their last job.  Source:  EBN 3/20/23