More prospective employees rejecting first offer salaries:  55% of employees negotiated salary the last time they received job offers before accepting them, according to staffing firm Robert Half. That's an impressive 16-point jump from a similar survey conducted a year prior. Why the change? Today's healthy job market could be playing a role. With so many work opportunities available, professionals might not be as shy about speaking up and demanding to be paid a salary they deserve. But employers' attitudes might be shifting as well. About 70% of managers don't expect job candidates to accept an initial salary offer but rather anticipate a bit of back and forth.  With free resources like salary.com where employees can look up salaries for jobs by location, HR will have to master negotiation skills.  Source:  The Motley Fool 2/16/19

Employee awarded $1.5 million for lack of private lactation room:  A jury awarded a former KFC employee $1.5 million in damages for claims related to a lactation room, Delaware Online reported. The verdict resolves the alleged gender discrimination and harassment the plaintiff endured while employed by Mitra QSR, the 4th largest domestic KFC franchisee. She had alleged that her employer made it so difficult for her to pump breast milk that her milk dried up, preventing her from feeding her child. She said her employer first discouraged her from pumping at work, then demoted and transferred her so "it would be easier" for her to pump. She alleged that she was eventually given access to an office — where her supervisor worked while she pumped. The office also had a video camera that could not be turned off and a window through which co-workers could see her.  Source: HR Dive

New York City bans hair discrimination:  New Yorkers can no longer be forced to have “professional” hair. They now have the legal right to wear their locks in locs — or au naturale, or styled in afros, cornrows, dreadlocks, twists, braids, Bantu knots and other ‘dos at work, in school, as well as in fitness clubs and nightclubs, under new regulations issued by the New York City Commission on Human Rights on Monday. Any grooming or appearance policies that ban natural hair or hairstyles can be subject to a $250,000 fine.  The new guidelines are believed to be the first in the U.S. to highlight the hair discrimination and the bias against natural and textured hairstyles that disproportionately affects black people. The Marines approved braid, twist and “lock” (often spelled loc) hairstyles in 2015, and the Army reversed its ban on cornrows and dreadlocks for women in 2017.  Source: MarketWatch 2/19/19

Illinois minimum wage to increase to $15 per hour: A bill that passed the Illinois legislature raises the minimum wage to $15 by January 2025. Senate Bill 1 would increase the minimum wage to: $9.25 per hour on January 1, 2020; $10 per hour on July 1, 2020; $11 per hour on January 1, 2021; $12 per hour on January 1, 2022; $13 per hour on January 1, 2023; $14 per hour on January 1, 2024; and $15 per hour on and after January 1, 2025.  Illinois’ current minimum wage is $8.25 per hour. If you need to update your Illinois posters, which likely won’t be updated until mid-March, go to www.govdocs.com and use the promotion code gn-ase at checkout.  Source: CCH 2/19/19

OFCCP to post CSALs on website in March:  OFCCP is on schedule to post its next Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL) in OFCCP’s FOIA Library in mid-to-late March 2019. In addition to compliance reviews, the new list will include Section 503 Focused Reviews as outlined in the Focused Review Directive (DIR 2018-04) and compliance checks as outlined in the Affirmative Action Program Verification Initiative Directive (DIR 2018-07). OFCCP also will soon post on its website additional Section 503 contractor compliance assistance resources to help contractors prepare for the upcoming reviews. This will be the first time OFCCP only posts the CSAL in the FOIA Library and does not mail advanced contractor notifications to individual establishments. Therefore, OFCCP strongly encourages contractors to subscribe to OFCCP Email Updates through its website to receive timely notification of the CSAL and other compliance assistance resources.  Source:  OFCCP 2/22/19

Watch out – No-match letters are coming:  A no-match letter does not indicate that anyone necessarily did anything wrong. It merely flags a discrepancy that must be resolved. However, depending on the employee, a no-match letter may indicate a problem with the employee's immigration status or eligibility to work in the U.S.  The Trump administration is using no-match letters to help enforce the president's Buy American, Hire American Executive Order. The program will continue in the spring of 2019, when the SSA will be comparing 2018 W-2 tax form data to its records and informing employers when there is a discrepancy.  No-match letters and E-Verify SSA no-match letters will be sent out for any discrepancy found on W-2 forms, whether or not the employer uses the government's online E-Verify employment eligibility verification system. Instead of a no-match letter, employers using E-Verify may receive a similar Tentative Nonconformation notice when entering information into that system. A Tentative Nonconformation notice indicates a discrepancy between I-9 information and the SSA's information.   Follow the instructions of the letter to ensure compliance.  Source: Business Management Daily 2/18/19

Bipartisan bill introduced to amend ADEA for mixed motives: On February 14, Representatives Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) re-introduced the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA), H.R.1230, in a bid to strengthen antidiscrimination protections for older workers. The bipartisan legislation was also introduced in the Senate by Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and others, according to sponsors.  The legislation would respond to the Supreme Court’s 2009 decision in Gross v FBL Financial Services, Inc, which is widely viewed as having weakened protections against age discrimination under the ADEA.   Under Gross, plaintiffs seeking to prove age discrimination in employment must demonstrate that age was the sole motivating factor for the employer’s adverse action. The POWADA would return the legal standards to the pre-2009 evidentiary thresholds under which parties were permitted to pursue "mixed motive" claims.   The POWADA would amend four laws: the ADA, Title VII; the ADEA; and the Rehabilitation Act. The proposal would ensure that all victims of discrimination, including older workers, would have their claims adjudicated fairly without the affirmative obligation of refuting every purported nondiscriminatory motive offered by the alleged wrongdoer for the alleged discriminatory action, according to a bill fact sheet. Source:  CCH 2/19/19