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.

Reporting Policies and Harassment Procedures: Why It’s Important to Get Them Right

After three years of litigation, a court in Nevada ruled in favor of Sbarro, LLC, in a $178 million lawsuit in which a former employee filed suit against the company for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, retaliation, and negligent retention. The former employee alleged she was repeatedly sexually assaulted at work by her manager and that […]

Workplace Investigations: Another Critical Duty in Your HR Hat

As an HR professional, one of your many duties may include conducting a thorough investigation into various issues that arise in the workplace. Whether the issue involves a claim of harassment, a claim of discrimination or a claim workplace misconduct, it is critical that you take steps to conduct a thorough investigation by interviewing all […]

Understanding the NRLB’s New Joint Employer Rule Proposal

Over the last decade, there has been a significant amount of litigation over how to determine if multiple companies are joint employers of a workforce. Joint employer status can create significant liability issues for the secondary employer in areas such as wages and safety matters. The rules governing that determination may be about to change.

4th Circuit Clarifies What Qualifies as Similar Jobs Under EPA

In an unpublished opinion, a unanimous panel from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to employers in South Carolina, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia) provided some great insight into possible defenses against an Equal Pay Act (EPA) claim. Because this is just an unpublished opinion, it’s not binding precedent.

OFCCP Issues Revised Directive for Compensation Analysis

Covered federal contractors have been tasked by the federal government with preventing disparities in pay for their employees based on race, gender, and ethnicity. To prevent such disparities, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) under the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) requires federal contractors to annually conduct an in-depth compensation analysis.

Employers Can’t Mandate Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Harassment Claims

Courts have long favored arbitration as a method of dispute resolution under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court reinforced the policy favoring arbitration agreements in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis. The Court ruled that the FAA requires enforcement of arbitration agreements that fall within its scope, including agreements in which […]

Employee Fails to Connect Racial Acts to Adverse Action

A factory worker sued her employer, alleging the company discriminated against her based on her race by allowing a hostile work environment to pervade its manufacturing plant. She also claimed it retaliated against her for accusing a coworker of tampering with her machine. Let’s take a look at how the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of […]

Grudge Match: Long-Simmering Resentment Stokes Age Bias, Retaliation Claims

People can hold grudges for a long time. But when a manager is holding a grudge against an employee, how long can that grudge continue? Well, in one case, a manager held a grudge against an employee for 11 years. The case comes to us out of Utah, where a former sheriff’s department firearms instructor […]