Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Several food-processing plants across the country have been in the news as they grapple with the requests of increasing numbers of Muslim workers seeking religious accommodations. Three disputes — all at meatpacking plants — centered on prayer breaks, especially important at Ramadan. During that month (which varies from year to year because it’s set on […]
An interstate trucking firm has agreed to pay $2.4 million and provide other remedial relief to a class of women to settle a major sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to the EEOC, beginning in 1997, PittOhio Express, Inc., denied a class of qualified female applicants employment as truck […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently issued a report on women’s earnings in 2007. According to the report, women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median weekly earnings of $614, or about 80 percent of the $766 median for their male counterparts. That ratio has grown since 1979 (the first year for which […]
Sometimes, broad diversity training isn’t enough. In fact, we’d venture to say that most times it’s not enough. That’s particularly the case when it comes to getting supervisors to take diversity seriously. “We’ve found that simple ‘diversity training’ doesn’t seem to do much to help managers ‘get it,’” says Joanne Cleaver, president of Wilson-Taylor Associates, […]
Supervisors don’t just need to understand the challenges faced by minorities and the legal ramifications, they must also experience what it’s like to be a minority within the organization, says Rene Petrin, who, as president of Boston-based Management Mentors, sets up corporate mentoring programs for clients. “One of the most effective ways to translate theory […]
The Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on January 23 that President Barack Obama has appointed Stuart J. Ishimaru as acting chair of the EEOC and Christine M. Griffin as acting vice chair. Ishimaru, whose term expires July 1, 2012, has been a commissioner since November 2003. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a […]
On December 31, 2008, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that Merrill Lynch, the international financial services firm, settled a discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of an Iranian Muslim former worker who claimed he was terminated because of his religion and national origin. Merrill Lynch agreed to pay $1.55 million to settle the suit. […]
National Women’s History Month’s roots go back to March 8, 1857, when women from New York City factories staged a protest over working conditions. International Women’s Day was first observed in 1909, but it wasn’t until 1981 that Congress established National Women’s History Week to be commemorated the second week of March. In 1987, Congress […]
It’s going to be quite a week. Today, of course, is the national holiday that celebrates the birth of the legendary civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tomorrow, the nation and the world will witness history in the making as the first African-American is sworn in as President of the United States. Looking […]
When Patrice Hall sat in Denver’s Mile High Stadium listening to Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) last August, she had never felt so inspired and hopeful. After almost two decades in line management, Hall has spent the last 13 years as a diversity executive, most recently as head of the […]