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.

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 […]

Dispute Over Unsigned Arbitration Agreement Means Judge Must Wear Detective’s Cap

On July 18, 2022, the New Jersey Appellate Division provided a perfect reminder why all employers and HR professionals should diligently confirm that new hires complete all on-boarding paperwork. It reversed a trial court’s order compelling arbitration, finding that the terminated employee’s failure to sign or acknowledge receipt of an arbitration agreement presented a factual […]

Interactive Process Not Triggered Until Employee Brings Up Need for Accommodation

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits covered employers from discriminating against a qualified individual with a disability. It also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with a disability. Failure to accommodate an employee when a reasonable accommodation is available is a violation of the law. But employers aren’t required to provide […]

Federal COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: Where Are We Now?

Last fall, we were furiously drafting mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policies for a variety of employers, including healthcare facilities, employers with more than 100 employees, and federal contractors. With the back and forth of whether a court would block implementation of the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates, many of those policies were left in a state of […]