Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Dinita James In the mid-1970s, I wore an ERA bracelet in support of ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). I also had a button that displayed only two numbers and a symbol ― 62 ¢. The 62 cents signified the then-current national average of women’s earnings for every dollar earned by men. Some […]
by Charles S. Plumb The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) prohibits sex-based discrimination in pay and benefits. Employers shouldn’t pay different wages to employees of the opposite sex for substantially equal work. “Substantially equal” work doesn’t mean identical work. It means substantially equal in terms of required skills, effort, and responsibilities. An employer can […]
by Peter D. Lowe and Connor Beatty On Thursday, January 30, Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court issued a groundbreaking and controversial decision. The Law Court ruled that a school district discriminated against one of its students when it told the student she couldn’t use the female restroom because she is transgendered. Although this decision directly affects […]
by Harold Pinkley From the time I began practicing employment law (too many) years ago―and probably for longer than that―employment lawyers have been quite comfortable advising clients that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on gender and other protected status) does not cover sexual orientation. Many […]
by Raanon Gal and Chad A. Shultz The law regarding the rights of transgender employees is evolving, with a clear trend toward the recognition and protection of the rights of transgender individuals. Just five years ago, employers in the United States likely would not have considered whether transgender employees were protected by federal employment laws. […]
by Boyd Byers She didn’t win the crown, but Miss Utah, Marissa Powell, made the most news during the Miss USA pageant this summer. Her bungled response to a question about the gender pay gap went viral and was seen by millions on the Internet. But her response also generated serious discussion about equal pay. […]
by Steven T. Collis Do an employer’s criticisms of a transgender employee’s unruly hair, disheveled clothing, poor writing and speaking skills, and negative client interactions support a discrimination claim based on her failure to conform to a gender stereotype? The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado recently said no to that question. However, […]
by Mark I. Schickman I keep waiting for the day that employment discrimination claims disappear. We spend a ton of time training employees to prevent and avoid discriminatory conduct, and the proper behavior is pretty intuitive. So, logically, employment discrimination should have been eradicated, like polio and smallpox. It would be terrible for my business […]
by Mark Schickman Let’s turn the clock back 50 years to the days before Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sex discrimination was a constant, and sexual harassment was so prevalent that it wasn’t yet a term of art. The notion that a woman had the right to a workplace free from […]
by Robert P. Tinnin, Jr. New Mexico’s Fair Pay for Women Act (FPWA) goes into effect June 14, affecting all employers with at least four employees. The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex “by paying wages to employees . . . at a rate less than the rate that the employer pays wages […]