Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.
“Ban-the-Box” and “Fair Chance” legislation have seen steady growth throughout the country over the past two decades. The purpose of these laws, which began emerging in the early 2000s, is to reduce barriers to employment for individuals with criminal conviction records. Banning “the box” refers to eliminating questions about criminal history early in an application […]
Performance reviews can feel daunting, but they’re a golden opportunity to showcase achievements, address challenges, and align personal goals with the company’s direction. Yet all too often, they’re a one-sided conversation, leaving employees wishing they had spoken up more. Is it any wonder then that performance reviews are widely disliked, even by confident employees and […]
New Year’s resolutions: Be they professional or personal, simplistic or life-altering, the beginning of the year affords a fantastic—albeit arbitrary—opportunity to effectuate change. Whatever. I’m not great about keeping New Year’s resolutions. I make them. Usually. Sort of. Sometimes I even pick them back up mid-year, but usually they go dormant long before it warms […]
As the dust settles from the 2024 U.S. presidential election, businesses with a significant international workforce are bracing for potential shifts in immigration policy. Former President Donald J. Trump’s return to office signals a likely shift toward more restrictive immigration measures, similar to his first administration’s policies and perhaps more expansive. With immigration playing a […]
Workers continue to find new ways to create potential hostile work environment liability for their employers under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In June 2023, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to employers in all the states covered by West Employment Law Letter) held that offensive music […]
In November 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) upended 76 years of precedent, holding in Amazon.com Services LLC, 373 NLRB No. 136, that “captive-audience” meetings are per se unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Captive-audience meetings are mandatory meetings during regular, paid working time where an employer shares its views regarding unionization […]
It’s winter, and when the cold winds blow, blizzards, ice storms, and dangerous temperatures often disrupt business. Certainly, bad weather can hit at any time of year, so employers always need to understand their legal obligations. But an organization’s response should go beyond those requirements. Employers also need to know how to help their employees, […]
On November 15, 2024, in a significant ruling that will impact employers across the nation, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas struck down the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) new rule that would have required employers to increase the salary-basis threshold under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In light of […]
Is an HR investigation into discrimination admissible evidence? A recent case from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appeals court covering Texas) declares the answer is “yes.” But as the expression goes, the devil is in the details. Read on. Claim of No Service Because of Race Sharnez Hager and her family […]
Even if an individual employee complies with the dress code, can she be asked to change clothes because she is too distractingly curvaceous? Can she be terminated for inappropriate social media activity, when similarly situated males were not? Was she terminated because she complained about discrimination and harassment, or because she posted risqué pictures while […]