Category: HR Management & Compliance
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.
Employment Law Tip: 10 Ways to Avoid Race Bias and Harassment Claims
As mentioned eralier, race discrimination charges continue to dominate the employment discrimination charges received yearly by the EEOC. And headlines frequently announce new race bias lawsuits, big verdicts, and settlements. Here are 10 tips you can use to avoid race bias problems in your workplace and stay out of court:
EEOC Issues New Guidance on Race and Color Discrimination
Despite big advances since the Civil Rights Era, problems of race discrimination in employment persist. In 2005, racial bias continued to be the most frequently alleged type of discrimination under federal law, accounting for 35.5 percent of charges received by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
California High Court Dismisses “Friends” Harassment Suit
The California Supreme Court has ruled 7-0 that sexually coarse and vulgar language used in meetings by writers developing scripts for the hit television sitcom “Friends” didn’t create a hostile work environment for a writers’ assistant on the show. According to the court, most of the objectionable language and conduct wasn’t aimed at the assistant, […]
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and alcohol and drug testing in the workplace: When to do it… when you have to stop
While some employers may regard alcohol and drug addiction as self-control issues, the Americans With Disabilities Act emphatically does not. Both addictions are qualified disabilities under ADA. Those who suffer from them are consequently protected against discriminatory behavior by employers. The Americans With Disabilities Act, requires that you offer equal employment opportunity to rehabilitated alcoholics […]
Employment Law Tip: Placing a Help-Wanted Ad? 10 Points to Consider
Good hiring practices can help you find and keep the best candidates, and can even help keep you out of court. A key part of this is making sure your employment ads are accurate and non-discriminatory. Before placing a help wanted notice in a trade publication or a local paper, evaluate it with the following […]
H-2B Visa Cap Reached for 2006
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the cap has been reached for H-2B work visas for the final six months of 2006. The H-2B visa program allows employers to request foreign workers to fill a one-time, peak-load, intermittent, or seasonal need for labor when no workers are available in the local […]
Ninth Circuit Rules on Gender-Based Grooming Standards
Last year, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California, ruled in favor of an employer that was accused of sex discrimination for requiring female employees only to wear makeup on the job (see the Feb. 2005 issue of the California Employer Advisor). The Ninth Circuit subsequently agreed to have […]
More Employers Conducting Background Checks
According to new figures from ADP Employer Services 2005 Screening Index, employment background checks were up by 12 percent in 2005 over the previous year. ADP reports that it conducted 4.86 million background checks in 2005, compared to 4.3 million in 2004. Forty-nine percent of the 2005 checks revealed a data inconsistency in education, employment, […]
EEOC Announces Crackdown on “Systemic” Discrimination
Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that strengthening its nationwide approach to investigating and litigating systemic cases of discrimination is now an agency-wide top priority. According to the EEOC, systemic cases involve a “pattern or practice, policy and/or class cases where the alleged discrimination has a broad impact on an industry, […]