Category: HR Hero Line

HR best practices, employment law tips, news and analysis, Q&As, and lessons learned from the courtroom.

conduct

HR lessons in NFL’s new code of conduct

by Laurie Jirak On December 10, 2014, the NFL announced a new and more stringent personal conduct policy (code of conduct) for all members of the NFL. The new code is the NFL’s attempt to create clear standards and consistent procedures for misbehavior, after a year spent in a deluge of criticism for its handling […]

NFL Vikings’ Adrian Peterson as a case study: Employers as judge and jury when employees misbehave?

by Laurie Jirak With the publicity surrounding the drawn out saga following the arrest of Vikings Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson, many employers may be asking what options they have to discipline or even terminate employees for allegedly engaging in unlawful conduct outside the workplace. What considerations should have an impact on your employment […]

OFCCP, EEOC heads discuss enforcement focus: compensation

by Emily L. Bristol At a recent meeting of the labor and employment law section of the American Bar Association (ABA), Patricia Shiu, director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), discussed the agency’s focus on pay disparity and highlighted that during the Obama administration, the OFCCP has […]

Republican landslide alters legislative, regulatory landscape in 2015 and beyond

by Burton J. Fishman The sweeping Republican victory in the midterm election promises to have a significant impact on employment legislation and regulations in the next two years. Because of the number of Republican governors and Republican-dominated state legislatures now in place across the country, the most immediate impact may be at the state level […]

EEOC actions spark employer wrath, scathing report from Senate panel

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)—long tasked with protecting workers from unfair treatment—is now coming under fire for what some claim is unfair treatment perpetrated by the agency itself. Republicans on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions issued the Minority Staff Report  “EEOC: An Agency on the Wrong Track? Litigation Failures, Misfocused Priorities, […]

Accommodating service animals in the workplace

by Jodi R. Bohr In recent years, service animals have become the topic of much debate partly because of their expanded use and perceived abuse. If you are confronted with an accommodation request by an employee or a customer who needs a service animal while on you premises, you must handle the situation appropriately and […]

checklist

Things for which an HR manager should be thankful

by Richard Yurko The challenges facing HR managers can be daunting. Amendments to the law, new and changing federal and state administrative policies, and a diverse workforce all contribute to the difficulty of appropriately resolving employee issues. As we enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, here are some things for which every HR manager should be thankful.  […]

Assessments can serve as compass for trek through HR wilderness

Busy human resources professionals can easily get caught up in the day-to-day and lose sight of the path they want to be on, but an assessment can guide the HR team out of the weeds and back on the road to reaching an organization’s goals. Lori Kleiman, a Chicago-based HR consultant, recently conducted a webinar […]

open

Tips on talking turkey about Thanksgiving time off

The debate over how employers should handle time off for the Thanksgiving holiday is taking a new twist this year. While the last few holiday seasons have seen more retailers expanding Black Friday to include all or part of Thanksgiving day, this year the backlash is heating up as a number of major players gamble […]