Blog Posts: Workplace Compliance
Domestic Violence Comes to Work — and Can Cost Companies Millions
If you work with someone whom you suspect may be facing physical or emotional violence at home, step up and find a way to help them help themselves. It's not just a matter of compliance.
Steps to Creating a Healthy Work Environment
In today's business climate, employees are tasked with doing more with less. Many employees are working longer hours to cover heavier workloads and increased responsibility. Increased employee stress often accompanies increased pressures and demands on employees.
Should Pregnancy Be Covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act?
There has been consistent buzz recently about the possibility of expanding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to include pregnancy.
Department of Labor Cracking Down on Violators of Breastfeeding Law
A March 2010 amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to provide "reasonable break time" to employees who are nursing mothers for one year after the birth of their child, so that the mothers can pump breast milk during working hours. Employers also have to provide a place for the nursing mothers to express their milk that is "shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public," and that place can't be a bathroom.
Does Your Workplace Encourage Bullying?
Workplace bullying is the deliberate mistreatment of an employee by a supervisor or co-workers. Not only does it create a hellish situation for the targeted employee, it can hurt the morale of all workers and lead to lower productivity throughout the department. A workplace bully can undermine your company and rob you just as surely as if he had cracked the company safe.
Expanded Definition of "Disability" under the ADA
The primary purposes of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are to improve the working relationship between employers and those employees who have disabilities and to eliminate discriminatory behavior toward employees with disabilities. The ADA covers the entire employment experience, from the hiring stage to on-the-job expectations and opportunities for promotion, as well as benefits and compensation.
Employer Alert: NLRB Announces Final Rule on Union Elections
Employers who want to present their workers with alternatives to labor unions may soon have less time to do so if the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has its say. On December 21, 2011, the NLRB announced final rule changes to its election procedures. The final rule, scheduled to take effect on April 30, 2012, would significantly shorten the number of days between the filing of an election petition and the holding of the election. The new rules would reduce this time to an estimated 14 to 24 days, according to some experts.
Federal and State Agencies Join Forces against Worker Misclassification
The U.S. Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service and labor agencies in 11 states have either signed or agreed to sign memoranda of understanding that will enable the agencies to share information and coordinate law-enforcement efforts against businesses that misclassify employees as independent contractors. The state agencies include those in Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, Utah and Washington.
Starbucks Settles EEOC Suit over Firing Woman with Dwarfism
Coffee mammoth Starbucks agreed to pay $75,000 to settle a case in which a barista claimed that the company fired her because of her disability of dwarfism.
EEOC Finds "Neutral" Leave Policy Not So Accommodating under ADA
When it comes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a totally "neutral" leave policy can be discriminatory, as a recent case against Verizon Communications, Inc., demonstrates.
