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Illinois

Didn’t know about customer harassment? Unless you were reckless, you won’t be liable

08/19/2024

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers are liable for the sexual harassment of their employees unless they have a solid no-harassment policy, a clear process for bringing harassment to management’s attention and a process to stop harassment as soon as possible. Employers must still try to prevent and stop the harassment, but employees are unlikely to win in court unless they can show that their employer recklessly permitted the customer harassment.

Beware co-worker harassment of transgender employees

04/22/2024

Late last year, the EEOC issued proposed guidance on gender-identity discrimination and harassment, with final guidance due soon. Based on the proposed guidance, we know the EEOC views slights against transgender employees to be a form of sex-based harassment. Now it has filed a lawsuit that claims harassment because co-workers continue to use a transgender employee’s birth name instead of the one she now chooses to call herself.

Ensure all pre-employment qualification tests are specific to the job and your needs

03/11/2024

Once you have made a job offer, you can only require physical qualification tests that are job-related and consistent with business necessity. The rule is designed to ensure that tests don’t have a disparate negative impact on members of protected classes.

Access to Personnel Files: 50 State Laws

02/16/2024

No federal law grants employees the right to inspect their personnel files. However, many states do give employees that right and spell out the terms under which employees are allowed to inspect their files. Here’s a state-by-state list of laws governing access to personnel files.

Tick tock, watch work off the clock

11/21/2023

Would you know compensable working time if you saw it? If you pay for noncompensable working time anyway, you can put conditions on your payment. Two cases illustrate.

Be prepared to prove why remote work isn’t a reasonable disability accommodation

09/25/2023

In many cases, disabled workers qualify for telework as an ADA reasonable accommodation if working from home instead of an office enables them to perform their job’s essential functions. However, that doesn’t mean employers must always grant a request to work remotely. If the job simply can’t be done offsite, then telework isn’t a reasonable accommodation.

Case of the Week: Ensure job descriptions reflect actual work

04/07/2023

Inaccurate or out-of-date job descriptions can trigger a variety of lawsuits, including allegations that you violated the Equal Pay Act or tolerated discrimination by paying some employees less than others who do the same or similar work.

Court dismisses EPA case as push for pay equity intensifies

01/18/2023

To win an EPA case, the worker must show that the opposite sex was paid more for “equal work requiring substantially similar skill, effort and responsibilities performed under similar working conditions.” That’s increasingly difficult in a work environment where numerous new jobs rely on extremely specialized skills, making it almost impossible to prove jobs are substantially similar enough to allow a comparison.

Ask these questions to determine what’s an essential function

12/07/2022

Whether employers must provide a reasonable accommodation depends on whether a proposed accommodation allows the disabled employee to perform the essential functions of their job. If no accommodation is possible, the employee isn’t qualified and, therefore, not protected under the ADA. You don’t have to hire or retain him.

Boorish behavior or harassment? Know the difference

10/26/2022

Not every crude comment or poorly received joke amounts to sexual harassment. An older federal appeals court decision overturning a sexual harassment jury award offers tips on what qualifies as illegal sexual harassment and where to draw the line.