Category: Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) is an important and ongoing strategy of any HR plan. Ensuring that your company supports hiring, engaging, and retaining diverse workers with varied backgrounds will set your company up for long-term success and an increased bottom line. This topic offers the latest strategies for talent management, key insights from diversity leaders, case studies on D&I in the workplace, and more.

OFCCP Leader Highlights Mission Protecting Workers, Promoting Diversity, and Enforcing the Law

Patricia Shiu, director of the U.S. Department of Labor‘s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), delivered the keynote speech at the annual meeting of federal contractors and OFCCP representatives for the National Industry Liaison Group on July 27 in New Orleans. The key portions of Shiu’s speech, in which she provided important updates on […]

Unemployed Need Not Apply

Last month we covered the emerging issue of discrimination against the unemployed. This month, we follow that up with employment law attorney John T. Neighbors giving his insight on the legal and practical considerations of having a policy that the unemployed need not apply for vacant positions with your company. Legal Implications On the surface, […]

Working Through Religious Beliefs in the Workplace

By Sharolyn Whiting-Ralston In today’s world, employers face cultural and faith issues in the workplace. To further complicate matters, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has begun paying more attention to those issues. A recent case out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, serves as a reminder about your obligations when taking into account cultural or religious differences […]

Violent Crimes Down Six Percent Nationwide in 2010

The number of violent crimes declined 6% nationwide in 2010 from a year earlier, according to an annual report released week by the FBI. Murder and manslaughter offenses fell 4.2% in 2010, reported rapes declined 5%, and aggravated assaults fell 4.1% from 2009. The number of robberies fell by 10%, and the number of property […]

Could “Unemployed” Be the Next Protected Characteristic?

In a market in which the number of people looking for jobs wildly exceeds the number of jobs available, some employers have opted to narrow the field of applicants by eliminating unemployed workers from consideration. While some employers restrict the field to individuals who are currently employed, others allow candidates who are “recently unemployed” to […]

EEOC Promotes Hiring Recently Released Prisoners

On June 21, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Jacqueline Berrien participated with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Attorney General Eric Holder in a roundtable discussion of employment strategies for getting individuals with criminal records, including recently released prisoners, back to work. Employers, service providers, academics, policy advocates, and former prisoners also participated. The […]

When the Offender Becomes the Plaintiff

Faced with racially motivated workplace killings, reporters from ABC’s Primetime Live sniffing around your facility, and a spate of race discrimination lawsuits, cracking down on racial harassment might be a good thing, right? Maybe so in some utopian world of rationality and logic, but we live and work “down the rabbit hole.” In our world, […]

Unmarried and Single Americans

“National Singles Week” was started by the Buckeye Singles Council in Ohio in the 1980s to celebrate single life and recognize singles and their contributions to society. The week is now widely observed during the third full week of September, which is September 18-24 this year, as “Unmarried and Single Americans Week,” an acknowledgment that […]

Is Every Employee Disabled?

By Michael E. Barnsback That was the question we received at the conclusion of the ADA Compliance Virtual Summit, which I conducted with Audra Hamilton on June 15, 2011. The question was reasonable after conference participants learned that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) new regulations emphasize that the focus of the Americans with Disabilities […]

Humana Adopts Policy Against Hiring Smokers in Arizona

By David I. Weissman Many employers are seeking to control escalating health care costs and improve worker productivity by implementing policies that promote employee wellness. As a result, policies that discourage employees from smoking have become increasingly popular. Some companies have gone a step further and decided they won’t hire smokers at all. This includes […]