After working from home so long, it appears that many have forgotten office etiquette. For example, the heating of fish in the microwave, eating tuna fish at the desk, or not showering before coming to the office. For people with olfactory sensory issues, returning to the office could be a nightmare. Then there are those who forget their decibel levels. They can be heard everywhere.
On March 18, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") published guidance on website accessibility specific to how state and local governments (Title II of the ADA) and "public accommodations" (Title III of the ADA) can remove unnecessary barriers that make it difficult or impossible for people with disabilities to use websites.
If a complaint about race or sex discrimination arises, the person bringing the complaint will generally have what they think is the perfect solution. However, courts are not looking as much at the solution as they are at the steps taken to get to a solution. Prompt investigation is an important defense to discrimination claims.
When using a third-party administrator for leave issues such as FMLA, employers need to ensure proper coordination of their policies with the timing of responses by the third-party administrator. If not, it could leave the employer liable for either interference of FMLA or ADA violations.
Americans tend to overestimate the percentages of minority groups in the U.S. The news, politics, and other outlets may exacerbate a situation or activity, simply because of reporting biases. A new poll from YouGov America appears to confirm that in broad terms, Americans consistently, and vastly, overestimate the size of minority groups.
Since the 1960’s the federal government’s procurement regulations have been used for the administration’s social policy implementation. For example, the procurement regulations were used to promote, affirmative action, good compliance actors, anti-human trafficking, and health and safety concerns.
In a misguided argument for increased efficiency in audit, the OFCCP issued a new directive on March 31, 2022, to rescind the former Transparency Directive (DIR 2018-08) and three others under the previous administration (DIR-2018-06, DIR 2020-02, and DIR 2021-02).
Just recently the EEOC settled with a trucking and property management company who terminated an employee after they exhausted their FMLA leave and were unable to return to work. In the situations before the EEOC, the company terminated one employee with 30 years tenure who needed an additional three weeks off and another employee with 20 years tenure who simply needed an additional week.
In a recent survey by the AARP, nearly 80% of older employees say they’ve seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. The percentage of jobseekers in February above the age of 55 who were “long-term unemployed,” meaning they’d been looking for a job for 27 weeks or more, was more than 36%, compared to around 23% among those between the ages of 16 and 54.
On the Ides of March and Equal Pay Day, OFCCP issued their new pay equity directive (Directive 2022-01). The purpose of the directive is to provide guidance on how OFCCP will evaluate federal contractors’ compliance with pay equity audit obligations and clarify OFCCP’s authority to access and review pay equity audits conducted pursuant to 41 CFR 60-2.17(b)(3).
A recent U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals court case brought up the issue of the salary basis test. The case concerned an oil rig worker who met the duties test and income minimums of the FLSA executive and highly compensated exemptions.