With benefit season upon us, many organizations still cling to the one size fits all baby boomer type benefits.   But the question is why?  For older workers, retirement is on the near horizon and their focus is on financial planning and healthcare for retirement. The next generation, their focus is on education and savings for retirement.  529 plans are good, but 401(K)s and HSAs are highly valuable. And what are employers doing for the younger generation, who holds the...

In a recent survey by Time’s Up and the National Women’s Law Center, seven in 10 people (72%) who report sexual harassment faced some form of retaliation, including termination, lawsuits for defamation, and denied promotions.  The report is based on 3,317 requests for legal help submitted to Time's Up between January 1, 2018, and April 30, 2020.  In addition, one-third of workers (36%) said they experienced physical harassment, sexual assault, or rape. About 1 in 5 (18%)...

Earlier this year, the administration had an executive order which limited the number of H-1Bs for the remainder of the calendar year.  On October 6, 2020, the Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security jointly announced an interim final rule (IFR) that would reform the prevailing wage calculation used by DOL in its foreign worker programs.   The rule was published in the Federal Register October 8th.

On September 30, California’s Governor Newsom signed into law a requirement that California employers would report on pay and hours worked data. The new law requires covered employers to submit their first report, covering 2020 data, by March 31, 2021.  The reporting is similar to the EEO-1 component 2 reporting that was required of all EEO-1 filers and reported on for years 2017 and 2018 in March 2019. 

In 2014 the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) initiated an audit of Oracle headquarters.  As the audit progressed, OFCCP contended that Oracle violated Executive Order 11246 by having discriminatory pay practices.  On March 11, 2016 OFCCP issued a Notice of Violation against Oracle which led a Show Cause Order on June 8, 2016.   OFCCP filed a lawsuit with the Office of Administrative Law Judges on January 17, 2017 after conciliation efforts broke...

On September 22, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) titled “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping.”  The EO arose because various federal agencies had a private diversity-consulting firm conduct a training session last June titled “Difficult Conversations About Race in Troubling Times.”

Given all the events in the past few months, diversity has been a focus for many organizations.  More specifically, there have been a number of pledges to have greater diversity.  Jaime Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, took a knee with employees to protest racial injustice in law enforcement.  There have also been a number of marketing changes by organizations to promote the diversity theme.

When employees, especially sales people, have access to various electronic devices, databases, and documents from an organization, at what point does a company have a right under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) to bring a case against an exiting employee for computer fraud? 

The Bostock decision on LGBTQ rights under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was a civil rights victory long coming.  From the American perception of same sex marriage to LGBTQ rights, the country took a mighty swing to a new direction since the 1990s when the Defense of Marriage Act was enacted by Congress under the Clinton Administration.  The decision itself was groundbreaking in that it was a 6-3 decision with two of the “conservative” justices voting with the...

The U.S. Department of Labor issued three new FAQs concerning when FFCRA applies to school openings this fall.  Previously, the DOL covered school closings in March, and there was much uncertainty as to how school openings would be treated under the FFCRA.  

The short answer is yes.  The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) both support this position.  

The “cancel culture” is not a new phenomenon, but a movement that has grown greatly over time. Per dictionary.com, cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is generally discussed as being performed on social media in the form of group shaming – think of the twitter mobs. 

The FFCRA applies to U.S. employers with fewer than 500 employees.   Last week a district federal court in New York overturned some provisions of the interim FFCRA rules.  These interim rules for the FFCRA were written quickly, within two weeks of the law.  However, these rules have a shelf life of 12/31/20, but given the uncertainty of the COVID-19 vaccinations, it may be extended into another year.  In the meantime, employers that are covered under these rules need...

It is generally thought of that HR is on the side of management, although at times they will mediate between management and employees.  However, what are the rights of an employer when an HR employee assists an employee with the filing of an EEOC charge against the employer?

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and grows, worker concerns about safety, job security, and transparency on workplace issues have become forefront.  For example, Amazon has fired warehouse employees who protested the company's working conditions and COVID-19 mitigation measures.  Although Amazon stated it fired these employees for performance issues and violation of mitigation requirements within the warehouse, these firings are close to crossing the line for violations of the...