Archives

Geographic diversity: Dealing with rural-urban differences in the workplace

The rural-urban divide in America has had people talking since the 2016 presidential election, which showed a marked difference in the way urban and rural areas tend to vote. The 2016 election wasn’t the first sign of a divide, and individuals in both rural and urban areas often defy aggregate data, but various statistics show […]

Wild kingdom: sexual harassment at the NPS

by Mark I. Schickman Twenty years ago in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the case of a female lifeguard who sued the city of Boca Raton for sexual harassment because her supervisor lifeguard, on duty with her on a local beach, subjected her to “uninvited and offensive touching,” made […]

May we fire employee who doesn’t fit in?

by Robert P. Tinnin, Jr. Q I own a small software development company that has been phenomenally successful in the few short years we have been in business. I attribute our success in large measure to our employees, who are very tight-knit and cohesive. Nine of our 10 current employees are Anglo males between 35 […]

EEOC issues new guidelines on national origin discrimination

by Saul Glazer With the increase in terrorism and attention given to immigration- related complaints, there is commensurate potential for workplace conflict and harassment related to national origin. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued new guidelines to help employers prevent national origin discrimination in the workplace. This article discusses national origin discrimination and […]

tips

Employers Ask Supreme Court to Rule on Tip Policies

The U.S. Supreme Court may soon decide whether employers can collect workers’ tips and redistribute them to nontipped employees. Federal regulations currently prohibit this practice but industry groups say the Obama administration overstepped its authority with that rule.

Mastering Tough FMLA Issues: Substitution of Paid Leave

This article series addresses some of the most confusing real world problems surrounding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In the last installment, we focused on FMLA leave regarding spouses who work for the same company.  In this article, we’ll focus on substituting paid leave for FMLA leave.

disability

What 2017 Holds for Disability and Absence Management

2017 is a year of uncertainty for the HR sector. Absence and disability management professionals are no different. A new president and Congress are sure to institute laws and regulations that make changes great and small. At the same time, states and localities continue to make their own legal and regulatory changes, especially around paid leave.