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U.S. Supreme Court Scrutinizes Racial Bias Ruling

After several years of employees being required to meet a very high standard to have their cases heard by a jury, that may be changing in the long term. The U.S. Supreme Court recently cautioned federal judges to be careful in the rules of evidence and legal standards for employment discrimination. The Court’s opinion offers […]

EEOC Vice-Chair: What’s Particularly Important for Employers?

  In yesterday’s Advisor, Leslie Silverman talked employers through changes at EEOC and OFCCP. Today, her tips for complying with the new ADA—ADAAA (ADA Amendments Act), which became effective January 1, 2009. Silverman, a partner at Proskauer, LLP, in Washington, D.C., and former vice chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), offered her take […]

ESA to Be Abolished in November 2009

This content was originally published in October 2009. For the latest FMLA regulation changes, visit our FMLA article archives or try our practical FMLA compliance guide. Effective November 8, 2009, the Employment Standards Administration (ESA), the umbrella agency that administers the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the Office […]

New E-Verify Rule for Federal Contractors Delayed

Update: E-verify deadline moved to September 2009 Federal contractors have been given at least a temporary reprieve from the E-Verify regulations that were set to go into effect January 15. Under the plan, the contractors would be required to begin using the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services E-Verify system to ensure that their employees are […]

Beauty and the Best

We have eliminated many forms of workplace discrimination and made great strides toward erasing others, says attorney Mark Schickman. Nonetheless, one form of discrimination—“Beauty Bias,” as coined by Stanford law professor Deborah Rhode—remains alive, well, and possibly inherent in the human condition.

Full Faith and Credit: Lessons from the Shirley Sherrod Snafu

By Mark I. Schickman Imagine a horrible accusation made against one of your managers — maybe harassment, maybe violence, maybe theft, maybe drugs. This is an outspoken employee who has sued you before — and won — and with whom you have to be careful. But under heavy pressure from top executives, you immediately fire […]

New York and California Trying to Clean up FLSA Abuses at Car Washes

As spring rolls in, muddy cars are a frequent occurrence, and car washes typically see increased patronage in the spring and summer months — which means longer hours for car wash employees. However, those employees are still entitled to overtime pay (and other legal protections) when high demand means increased work hours. Recently, car washes […]

Terminating Employees: Neutral Investigation Helps Defeat Discrimination Charges

Richard King was a valued United Parcel Service (UPS) supervisor in Redding for more than 30 years, until he was fired for falsifying an employee’s timecard. King contended in a lawsuit that the real reason for his termination was disability bias. But now a California appeals court has dismissed King’s suit—and the case is a […]

Are Your Employees Stressed Out?

The first step in tackling any problem is to understand it. Henry Neils, who heads an organization known as the International Assessment Network, has identified 13 signs of work-related burnout: 1. Chronic fatigue (exhaustion, tiredness, a sense of being physically run-down) 2. Anger at those making demands 2. Self-criticism for putting up with the demands […]

Workplace negativity–Don’t just say NO

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady BLR CEO Bob Brady is on vacation this week, so we’re offering one of his most popular columns that deals with a problem that most all HR managers face—negativity. A reader recently wrote to ask how to deal with “negativity,” specifically, employees who can see only the dark […]