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EEOC Issues New Guidance on Employing Veterans with Disabilities

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released new guidance addressing how changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) affect the employment of veterans with disabilities. One of the guides is aimed at employers, and the other is for veterans. Both are available at www.eeoc.gov. The guides reflect changes brought about by the ADA […]

20-Year Sexual Harassment Report Card: Mixed Bag for Employers

Lawsuits are down, but judgments are up. Training is the answer. This fall marks 20 years since the term “sexual harassment” entered the American lexicon in a big way. Americans came to know it through the testimony of Anita Hill, as she complained about alleged unwelcome advances from her ex-boss, now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, […]

Overtime Regs: Time for DOL to Get to the 21st Century?

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady Pondering arcane overtime rules, BLR founder and CEO Bob Brady asks “Isn’t it about time that the U.S. Department of Labor emerges from its cave and joins the 21st century?” I’m speaking of overtime regulations. At BLR, we have several salespeople earning between $70,000 and $100,000 a year. […]

‘Choose Child or Job’: Manager’s Comment Sends ADA Suit to Trial

A manager’s comment has allowed an employee to keep her disability discrimination claim alive, according to a recent court ruling. In Manon v. 878 Education, LLC (No. 12-cv-3476 (March 4, 2015)), a worker alleged that she was fired because her daughter has a disability; her claims survived summary judgment because she was able to show that her […]

Disciplinary Meetings: New Ruling Sheds Light on When Employees Are Entitled to Union Representation

A union worker is about to be called into a monthly performance meeting. He asks if he needs union representation, and you say no. Then, because of something that occurs during the meeting, you terminate him. Were you wrong not to put off the meeting until he had representation? We’ll review a recent National Labor […]

Look Beyond ROI for Wellness Metrics

The most common measure of “value” for a wellness program is ROI, but a recent survey found that companies are beginning to look beyond just ROI for additional metrics to help justify their programs. The Alliance for Wellness ROI, Inc.’s (Alliance) 4th Annual Survey of Corporate Wellness Programs showed that such metrics include: Wellness program […]

South Dakota Voters Just Say No to Medical Marijuana

By Jane Pfeifle Though a similar measure was narrowly defeated in 2006, this year South Dakota resoundingly rejected Initiative 13, which called for the legalization of medical marijuana. As a result employers can breathe a sigh of relief because the measure raised numerous questions about how they might be called on to respond to employees […]

EEOC Discrimination Disputes Cost Employers More than $400 Million in 2012

Employers paid more than $400 million to resolve discrimination cases filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in fiscal 2012, according to data released by the agency Jan. 28. Among private-sector workers, retaliation, race and sex discrimination, respectively, were the most common discrimination charges. Other highlights from the EEOC’s fiscal 2012 statistical summary: 99,412 […]

Two Transit Parity Bills Languish in Congress

Despite two transit parity bills introduced so far this year on Capitol Hill, Congress so far has made no indication it will extend the mostly non-controversial proposal to equalize the tax breaks for qualified parking and mass transportation and vanpool commuting expenses. Both bills were introduced in the House and seek to amend the tax […]