Archives

Onionheads everywhere rejoice as NY federal court protects their ‘religion’ under Title VII

by Brent E. Siler The title of this article isn’t a typo or a joke. It’s a literal statement of holding in a recent federal case before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which found that an employer’s conflict-resolution program, which its creator dubbed “Onionhead” or “Harnessing Happiness,” was in […]

DOL takes another beating: Court blocks persuader rule

A federal district court has permanently blocked a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulation that would have created new requirements for employers looking to keep unions out of their workplaces. On November 16, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted summary judgment (dismissal without a trial) in favor of business groups […]

Maryland

EEOC Seeks Enhanced Damages for Age Discrimination in Benefits Calculations

by Kevin C. McCormick, JD, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP In a significant decision, The U.S. district court in Baltimore declined to award the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) retroactive or prospective monetary relief in an age discrimination case in which the agency claimed that Baltimore County had improperly calculated pension fund contributions.

1/3 of HR Leaders Feel Current Training Programs Are Meeting Their Development Needs, Says Survey

Attracting top talent and improving employee engagement are the top priorities for 2017, according to a new survey released by Waggl, a technology platform that surfaces and distills real-time insights from groups of people. In Waggl’s newest “Voice of the Workplace” pulse survey, conducted with hundreds of business and HR leaders from August 2026 through […]

Court Sends Louisiana Police Department’s Sick Leave Policy to Jail

by Jason Culotta, JD, Jones Walker A recent decision by the federal district court in Shreveport puts employers on notice that overly broad and intrusive sick leave policies violate not only federal and state laws prohibiting disability discrimination but also potentially employees’ privacy rights under the Louisiana Constitution.

Future-Proof Your Organization with Talent Pools

by Joanne Wells, Manager, Learning Center of Excellence, Halogen Software Among the many factors threatening an organization’s future is the threat of suddenly facing critical vacancies and the subsequent disruption in leadership, business continuity, or special knowledge and skills unique to the organization. With looming retirements and the increasing propensity of talented employees to change […]

leadership

Getting the Authority You Want Through Credibility, Influence, and Reach

by Lori Kleiman, CEO of HR Topics  We are seeing a dramatic increase in Human Resources (HR) professionals that are considered a member of the leadership team and impacting the strategic initiatives in their organization. In order to make a full impact, HR leaders need to have the authority to carry out initiatives as part of that […]