News

Courts rarely second-guess hiring decisions as long as they are based on objective, reasonable factors, backed with documentation as one case proves. Remind your managers the importance of proper documenting, even during hiring.

If any of your employees has Tourette Syndrome, you will have to assess each on an individualized basis. Start the interactive accommodations process by determining which major functions the employee (or job applicant) needs help with. Then identify appropriate accommodations.

A trio of lawsuits could derail plans for the new overtime rule to go into effect on July 1. Each suit asks federal courts to prevent the overtime rules from taking effect, at least temporarily. 

A component of OSHA's new walkaround rule has employers worried that it could literally open the door for union organizers or union-paid industrial hygienists to trail along behind inspectors, possibly influencing their findings or gathering information that could influence collective bargaining.

Workday, a human resource management service that provides applicant screening services as one of its capabilities, is accused of using machine-learning algorithms and artificial intelligence tools to screen out applicants who are African-American, disabled and/or over the age of 40.

Under the FMLA regulations, if an employee is provided group health insurance, he or she is entitled to the continuation of coverage during FMLA leave on the same terms as if he or she had continued to work. If family-member coverage is provided to an employee, that coverage must be maintained during the FMLA leave.

It’s an election year, and that means one thing is certain: Congress will try to come up with popular yet largely uncontroversial legislation to highlight what politicians are doing to help regular working people.

For example, currently gaining traction on Capitol Hill is federal legislation aimed at improving safety for people who work for employers that operate massive warehouse and shipping operations—employers like Amazon. Enter The Warehouse Worker Protection Act, introduced in the Senate in May, which would aim to reduce workplace injuries.

If you tolerate gender stereotyping in the workplace, you could be courting a lawsuit that alleges both sex discrimination and sexual harassment.

Final rules implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect June 18, with partial exceptions limited to employers in Louisiana and Mississippi, employers affiliated with the Catholic church and state government agencies in Texas.

In a unanimous decision handed down June 13, the U.S. Supreme Court made it harder for the National Labor Relations Board to intervene in employers’ decisions.