A recent report from The Best Place for Working Parents® and Southern Methodist University's Center on Research and Evaluation (CORE) highlights the advantages of family-friendly policies, revealing their positive impact on both working parents and businesses' overall performance.

ASE has advised on this in the past but with the current state of social media use and the growing rancor and divisiveness in society we remind employers again: employers do have rights when it comes to its employees’ off-work verbal and social media communications.

In the past, employers did not actively surveil employees except in two major areas.  First, the internet.  Employers had to make sure that employees were not going to illicit sites.  Second, on factory floors.  For many, insurance coverage played a role in filming employee activity in case of accidents and other like activities.  There is also recording of calls for customer service, for example, that are stated to be used for training purposes. 

Employers are advised to review certain employee handbook policies to ensure they will not be found to violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). As we have reported, the pro-labor National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is issuing new Board decisions that are decidedly pro-labor and challenge some long standing employer policies as a violation of a worker’s right to engage in protected concerted activity.

Now that marijuana has been legalized for recreational use in Michigan and 23 other states and all 50 states have legalized some form of use – from CBD oil only to medical marijuana to fully legalizing use – employers are wondering if they should continue to have applicants/employees submit to drug tests.

HR professionals are continually seeking ways to cut expenses, enhance operational efficiency, and uphold productivity. When it comes to onboarding procedures, the transition to a paperless approach emerges as a strategic way to realize these objectives. Below, we examine the advantages of paperless onboarding.

In a March report released by the Pew Research Center, it was revealed that in 2022, women in the United States typically earned 82 cents for each dollar earned by men in similar roles. This statistic remained stagnant when compared to the year 2002 when women earned 80 cents on the dollar. The slow pace of narrowing the gender pay gap in the 21st century stands in stark contrast to the considerable progress made in the preceding two decades. In 1982, women were earning a mere 65 cents for...

Not unexpectedly, last week the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) changed its work rule test. The NLRB’s work rule test assesses whether particular employer policies (rules) illegally restrict workers’ rights. The Biden labor Board, now comprised of his appointees, and its General Counsel stated that since this Administration came into office, it would be reviewing many Trump-era labor rules and this rule in particular.

With the enactment of both the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) effective June 27, 2023, and the Nursing Mothers Act also known as the PUMP Act, covered employers should consider adding new policies to communicate compliance and inform employees what they are providing them as a result of those laws.

ChatGPT and other AI tools are being used by employees to perform their jobs.  In one survey, it was found that around 43% of employees use AI such as ChatGPT at work, mostly without telling their boss.  The problem isn’t just the use of these tools, but the fact employees are providing potentially confidential information to the tools to create solutions. Once the confidential information is in the AI tool, which is a generative AI tool, continuously learning, it is...

About half of workers are not fully engaged in their jobs, according to a study conducted by Gallup. This means they are only doing the minimum required to get by – not good for employers. This drop in employee engagement has happened two years in a row. But why?

With the passage of the PUMP Act last year employers with 50 or more employees should now consider including a policy addressing nursing mothers in the workplace. Employers under 50 in size may have an exemption but only if they can demonstrate that compliance for a particular employee causes undue hardship.

Updating your employee handbook is a critical annual initiative for an HR department.  It ensures compliance with industry standards and federal and state laws.  

What is a statute of limitations agreement? In the employment context, this is an agreement between the employer and employee that states the employee agrees to bring any claims against the employer within a specific period of time after employment.

Many organizations have had to adjust their return to office plans due to employees revolting. Rather than compete with the home office, try embracing it by creating an office that builds off of what your employees love about working from home.