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.

Supreme Court Ruling Requires More Rigor from Employers for Employee Requests for Religious Accommodations

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to accommodate their employees’ religious practices so long as doing so wouldn’t impose an undue hardship on the employers.  Title VII Title VII, as amended, protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.  Whom Does […]

How Workplaces Can Support Working Parents (And All Workers) During the School Year

With school and many childcare facilities back in session, the months during the school year are extremely challenging for working parents, who are trying to balance ever-changing family schedules and professional responsibilities. The result is often increased multitasking and/or employees putting in long and late nights trying to catch up on assignments. Here are some […]

It’s Important that Employees Know Who Can Fire Them

Employers frequently use lead persons who aren’t supervisors with the authority to fire employees. However, problems can arise when employees believe such leads can fire them. A recent case before the Arkansas Court of Appeals illustrates this problem. Background In an unbriefed appeal to the court of appeals, Erin Daniels challenged the Arkansas Board of […]

Surveillance in the Workplace: An Update from the NLRB

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) continues to move the needle on its interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in favor of unions. For example, in Memorandum GC 23-02 entitled “Electronic Monitoring and Algorithmic Management of Employees Interfering with the Exercise of Section 7 Rights,” General Counsel Abruzzo outlined a new framework for […]

Case Study: 4th Circuit Delivers Road Map for Accommodation Process

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to engage in an interactive, good-faith process to determine if reasonable accommodations can be made for disabled employees that would allow them to perform the essential functions of the job. A recent case decided by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (which has jurisdiction over North Carolina) […]

Shot Through the Heart: Did SCOTUS Give Strikes a Bad Name?

On June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision some have deemed a blow to the right to strike. The 8-1 decision crossed ideological lines, as both conservative and liberal members of the Court either joined the majority opinion or concurred. Strike In August 2017, the collective bargaining agreement between cement manufacturer Glacier […]

HR Works Podcast: Get Your Workforce PWFA-Ready! (Part 2) – Reasonable Accommodation

Guest: Paige Hoster Good, Attorney and Shareholder with McAfee & Taft What constitute as “reasonable accommodations” under the newly proposed Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) regulations? What steps are employers required to take when a qualified employee requests accommodation for a “known limitation” due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition? Our coverage around the […]

Case Study: Employee Can’t Show Firing Was Because of Her Gender

Discrimination claims are determined by a three-step analysis. Usually, the third step in this analysis—pretext—is key. Despite the ways in which courts have outlined how pretext for discrimination can be proven, there are times when an employee’s evidence of pretext falls short. A recent case from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals is a […]

U.S. DOL Wins Latest Battle in War with Restaurant Associations Over the Tipped Employee ‘80/20’ Rule

In Restaurant Law Center et al. v. US Department of Labor, Case 1:21-cv-01106-RP (W.D. Tex. July 6, 2023), the Texas Federal District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the Department of Labor (DOL), upholding the DOL’s December 2021 regulations on the “80/20 Rule,” denying the plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion, and refusing to enter the requested […]

SCOTUS Subtly Redefines the Landscape of Workplace Religious Accommodations

Since 1977, employers evaluating whether an employee’s religious accommodation request would cause undue hardship on their business had a low burden to meet. A denial of a religious accommodation could likely be justified if the proposed accommodation involved more than de minimis cost or inconvenience to the employer. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court changed that […]