Tag: diversity

Use Training Committees to Improve Results

Gaining award-winning status for its learning organization has helped Jiffy Lube® International, (www.JiffyLube.com), a 100-percent franchisee-owned and -operated store chain, improve its training function even more, says Kenneth Barber, the company’s manager of learning and development. Barber attributes the success of Jiffy Lube University (JLU) to its close alignment with the business, franchisees, and vendor […]

Facing the future: Growing numbers of workers with disabilities bring challenges, opportunities

by Tammy Binford A new study from business and research organization The Conference Board says that more than 10 percent of the U.S. population currently has some form of disability. Other research from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that disproportionate numbers of people with disabilities are either unemployed or working in jobs that pay low […]

Can I ask that question on a job application?

by Toni Everton An increasing number of unsuccessful job applicants are filing discrimination charges, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state enforcement agencies are taking a close look at job applications for evidence of unlawful bias. So the question is, what can you ask on a job application? This article doesn’t contain an […]

Criminal and background reports as evidence in EEOC class actions

by Steven Collis In its first class action lawsuit challenging an employer’s use of criminal records, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ended up dropping its case against PeopleMark and getting socked with $750,000 in sanctions. Recently, the EEOC suffered another stinging loss when a federal court dismissed its discrimination case against Kaplan Higher Education […]

DOL releases toolkit to combat child and forced labor

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Bureau of International Labor Affairs has released “Reducing Child Labor and Forced Labor: A Toolkit for Responsible Businesses,” the first guide developed by the U.S. government to help businesses combat child labor and forced labor in their global supply chains. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), worldwide there […]

Get interactive, rules federal appellate court

by Brandon Gearhart A recent decision from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee employers) illustrates the importance of the interactive process when making employment decisions about a disabled worker. The court returned a previously dismissed Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claim to the lower […]

Are You Prepared for Virtual Training

“Trainers need to prepare themselves to facilitate and to engage with an audience they don’t see,” says Cindy Huggett, training consultant and author of Virtual Training Basics (www.cindyhuggett.com). First, trainers need to “learn the platform—in and out. Know every button,” she recommends. Second, be well versed in the technology, test the technology in advance, and […]

Getting the most from Gen Y: Research delves into the Millennial mindset

by Tammy Binford Consider the modern workforce: The up-and-coming Gen Y Millennials sit alongside Gen Xers, baby boomers, and even a few 70-and-older workers who’ve decided to delay retirement or skip it altogether. Researchers tout an era when four distinct groups inhabit the workplace—those born in 1945 and before, the boomers born from 1946-1964, Generation […]

FMLA leave may be used to care for a disabled adult child

by Edward Sisson The acting deputy administrator of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Administrator’s Interpretation (AI) No. 2013-1 on January 14 to explain the WHD’s position on who is considered a son or daughter under Section 101(12) of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The […]

EEOC’s use of ‘race raters’ against Kaplan University gets failing grade

by Judith E. Kramer On January 28, a federal court ruled in favor of Kaplan Higher Learning Education Corp. and Kaplan University in a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC had alleged that Kaplan’s use of credit history reports in making hiring decisions violated certain provisions of Title VII of […]