Tag: Employment law

New Orleans ‘Ban the Box’ Ordinance Takes Effect March 1

New Orleans, Louisiana, is joining the ranks of cities and states “banning the box” from its job applications. The city’s new ordinance takes effect March 1 and prohibits the city and its contractors from asking job applicants about their criminal history on initial employment applications. The measure also mandates that criminal background checks can be […]

Dead in the Water: Below Deck Med Star Called Out for Fudging Resume

Unless you are lucky enough to live in SoCal or the Sunshine State, you likely have been hit with below-zero wind chills, freezing rain, and/or snowstorms. During the bitter cold months of winter, watching old episodes of Below Deck Mediterranean (or, as the cool kids say, Below Deck Med) reminds me that sunnier, warmer days […]

goals

The Price of Success?

It has become an employee’s market, and jobseekers are being more forward about what they expect from employers. In the world of legal employment, that has translated to some tangible trends. One casualty may be the prehire arbitration agreement.

Legal Primer: Conducting and Managing the Results of Safety Audits

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and its substantive regulations, covered employers are subject to certain safety and health audit requirements. For example, covered construction industry employers must institute a safety and health program that provides for “frequent and regular” inspections of jobsites by “competent persons” to ensure compliance with the Occupational […]

garnishment

What You Should Know if Faced with an Employee Wage Garnishment

Employers are being confronted with wage garnishments more frequently than in the past. Sometimes an employee will already be subject to a legal garnishment when the employer receives a new notice. Here are some basics on wage garnishments for employers to consider, including what to do when you have multiple garnishments for the same employee.

Surviving R. Kelly Raises Potential Issues of Employees Aiding and Abetting Abuse

Over the holiday break, my wife and I watched the documentary series Surviving R. Kelly. In six hour-long episodes, alleged victims of R&B singer Robert Kelly (known by his stage name “R. Kelly”) provided first-hand, detailed accounts of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse by Kelly. In addition to adult women, Kelly preyed upon teenage girls, […]

Everything I Need to Know About HR I Learned from NCIS

NCIS is a popular TV show that has run for 16 seasons. One of the show’s running conceits is the set of rules promulgated by lead investigator Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon). The rules are referenced scattershot throughout the episodes. Sometimes they’re self-fulfilling prophecies and at other times contradictory for the plot as […]

Job Applicants, Employees with Criminal Charges, Convictions: What Can Employers Do?

Employers often use job applications to seek information about candidates’ conviction records. Criminal background checks are often performed before hiring an employee. The reasons for seeking the information seem obvious, but unfortunately, how the information can be used is not. In fact, sometimes it seems employers are stuck in a “holding cell” when it comes […]