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DOJ Issues Guidelines on Unlawful Employment Practices for Federal Contractors

When President Donald Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 14173—“Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”—earlier this year, what grabbed headlines was the repeal of EO 11246, which had mandated that federal contractors meeting certain size criteria develop affirmative action plans since 1965. EO 14173 also created two new certifications on the system for award management […]

Rude isn’t racist: Supervisor’s alleged poor treatment doesn’t amount to discrimination

by Carrie Pond A Kentucky federal court recently dismissed a claim of hostile work environment racial harassment because the employee failed to show the harassment was race-based. Despite allegations that, if believed, demonstrated the employee’s supervisor “treated [her] very badly,” she failed to establish that the treatment was racially motivated.   Facts Marilyn Harris, who is […]

Organizational Structure as a Roadblock to Change Management

Employee training programs are important elements of change management in the business world. These programs often seek to change the behavior of employees en masse and often involve the use of outside consultants and experts to design and run the training efforts. But these programs can leave employers and managers disappointed with the results.

Oops, I Didn’t Mean to Attach That!

If you are, or ever have been, in charge of hiring employees, you have probably seen your fair share of résumé bloopers. We’ve heard a few stories from our readers about confusing cover letters to disastrous spelling mistakes. Usually, culprits keep the mistakes to themselves. However, one woman has broken the norm and received national […]

Learn Elements of ERISA Plan Status to Help Avoid State-law Claims

A former employee’s failed attempt to call COBRA coverage a “privately paid” policy, rather than an ERISA plan, in order to maintain state-law claims against a group health insurer offers a chance to remind employers about importance of knowing the legal status of their benefit plans. In the case, the individual sued the insurer for […]

Women’s Appreciation

LITIGATION VALUE: 1,000,000 + The “women’s appreciation” meeting was a bad idea that was poorly executed. I’m not saying that Dunder Mifflin cannot or should not recognize the achievements of its female employees. It should. I just think that the meeting shouldn’t be announced by saying “I know the crap out of women” and should […]

7 Tips to Boost Employees’ Literacy and Engagement in Health Care

To most Americans, health insurance is confusing and just plain unenjoyable. Only 14% of U.S. workers can correctly define common insurance terms like deductible, copay, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum.1 Even if we were savvier about how health insurance works, we’re less than thrilled by the purchasing process: American consumers rate choosing health insurance as unenjoyable […]

The Most Common Mistakes Companies Make When Trying to Recruit and Retain Diverse Talent

It’s undebatable that companies benefit from employees with a diverse range of backgrounds, skills, and perspectives, but here are some stats anyway: Companies with diverse management teams report revenue that’s 19% higher than companies without, and diverse companies are nearly twice as likely to be leaders in their market segments, according to a recent report […]

Work-Life Balance at the Executive Level

There is a lot of discussion about work-life balance in the U.S. workforce. Employees often feel like, between a full-time job and non-work obligations like child-rearing, they don’t have time to pursue passions like hobbies, exercise, or travel. And it doesn’t seem like things get easier at the top. The perception is often that it’s […]