• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

What managers need to know about the FMLA

03/25/2021
The law allows qualified employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year for the birth or adoption of a child, to care for their own “serious” health condition or to care for an immediate family member who has a serious condition.

Snapshot: Retaliation still rising as most common EEOC charge

03/23/2021
For more than 10 years, retaliation has been the most common EEOC charge, now included in more than half of all complaints filed.

EEOC cracks down on teen worker harassment

03/23/2021
Many teenagers find their first jobs at fast-food or sit-down restaurant chains. Unfortunately, that kind of work often comes with a side of sexual harassment. The EEOC wants to stop that rite of passage.

Prepare for the onslaught of COVID ‘tag-along’ claims

03/18/2021
A former manager at a New York ice cream shop filed a lawsuit alleging that he was fired in retaliation for speaking up about instances of sexual harassment and unsafe COVID-19 workplace protocols at the company. The “and” is vitally important.

NLRB supports right to discuss unions, wear logos

03/18/2021
The National Labor Relations Board ruled that a BMW manufacturing plant violated employees’ labor-law rights by banning employees’ conversations about the union during work time while allowing conversations about other nonwork subjects.

Firing after FMLA leave: How soon is ‘too soon’ to trigger retaliation?

03/18/2021
When it comes to the FMLA, courts will always pull out their calendars to see how closely the employee’s protected activity (requesting or taking FMLA leave) coincides with the adverse action handed down by the employer (discipline, termination, etc.). The smaller the time, the bigger your risk of losing an FMLA-retaliation lawsuit.

#1 reason you can’t fire worker for going #2 on office floor

03/18/2021
You’d think it would be easy to fire a worker who defecates on the workplace floor and tells his manager he left a “present” for him. The problem: The employee is a member of a labor union.

Assure gender equity by assessing your operations

03/18/2021
The Biden administration is signaling it is serious about addressing pay disparities between women and men in the workplace. A White House executive order issued March 8 established a Gender Policy Council to help combat systemic, gender-based bias and harassment.

Double wages due for ignoring FLSA pay rules

03/18/2021
When the Department of Labor catches employers underpaying employees in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the penalty is to pay the amount owed—and then double it. If the underpaid employee hired an attorney to plead her case, then the employer may end up paying those legal fees, too.

OSHA plans targeted covid-19 inspections

03/18/2021
Anew OSHA national emphasis program seeks to reduce the threat of coronavirus exposure at work by targeting enforcement inspections at employers that put the largest number of workers at serious risk of becoming infected.