Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
You have several employees you’ve caught red-handed violating a company rule that your employee manual says may justify termination for a first offense. When questioned, one admits to the wrongdoing; the others deny it. Can you fire the employees who lied but retain the other employee with a lesser disciplinary measure? According to a recent […]
by Dara Wanzer Complicated legal and moral issues may occur when an employee who has taken medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for alcohol-related health issues returns to employment. The Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently considered some of those issues and found that under certain circumstances, alcoholism can be […]
Delaware Governor Jack Markell has signed an executive order that broadens the scope of discrimination protection in state government workplaces. Specifically, the order prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or expression and extends discrimination protection to all military veterans (instead of just Vietnam War veterans). While discussing the executive order and his administration’s commitment to […]
by Hillary J. Collyer Over the past two decades, the American workforce has enjoyed a significant increase in family-friendly policies in the workplace. Yet are those “family-friendly” benefits fair to all employees? Employees without children wonder whether they receive less valuable corporate benefits than their counterparts with children. Employers are prohibited from providing unequal benefits […]
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is moving forward with new regulations that will make it much easier for employees claiming protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to establish that they have a covered disability. At a public meeting in June, the EEOC voted 2-1 to approve draft changes to the existing […]
by Amy M. McLaughlin In part one of this article, we discussed the increase in the number of discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against private-sector employers since 2006. In 2006, the EEOC saw it’s first increase in charge filings in four years. By 2008, the number of discrimination claims filed […]
A federal appellate court recently allowed a discrimination case against an employer to proceed to trial because the hiring manager spent extra time with one of the candidates. Audit your hiring policies and practices with the Employment Practices Self-Audit Workbook Facts William Snooks started work as a customer activities specialist for Duquesne Light Company (DLC) […]
by Amy M. McLaughlin In its year-end statistics, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported that 75,768 discrimination charges were filed against private-sector employers in 2006. That was the first increase in charge filings in four years. By 2008, the total number of charges filed with the EEOC had jumped 25% to 95,402. With workplace […]
For many employees, the need to care for sick or very young family members weighs more heavily these days. Jobs are scarce, and staying employed is crucial, but family needs don’t magically disappear. While the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows unpaid employee leave to care for others, it doesn’t apply to all employers, […]
As a result of the recent economic crisis, many employers have been faced with the unpleasant task of laying off workers. But what happens when one of those employees is disabled? We recently received a question addressing that very issue. The situation involved a severely disabled part-time worker who was hired to stuff envelopes as […]