Employee Relations
Behavioral Misconduct Investigations: Key Challenges and How To Minimize Reputational Impact
Rarely a day goes by without at least one report of workplace misconduct hitting the headlines globally. In a post-#MeToo era, there is an ever-increasing focus from society on how organizations respond to and deal with allegations of abuse and harassment. In the last few months alone, a vast number of organizations have been the…
Read MoreExpanding Existing Bereavement Leave Policies to Account for Fertility Related Losses
Bereavement leave policies generally aim to provide employees with paid leave following the death of a family member. These policies, however, often fail to acknowledge the grief that employees experience upon a fertility related loss, such as a miscarriage. Fertility related losses are very common (with more than 1 in 4 pregnancies resulting in miscarriage)…
Read MoreBring your Pet-to-Work Policies – The Do’s, the Don’ts, and the Cautionary Notes
If you’ve ever explored our bios it’s no secret that we are huge pet lovers over here! And, being a virtual Human Resources Consulting firm, we are lucky enough to work with our furry friends daily. For workplaces that are in-office or hybrid, we have seen various workplaces try to replicate this joy by introducing…
Read MoreThird Circuit Court of Appeals Establishes Framework for Future FLSA Donning and Doffing Cases
On August 16, 2023, in Tyger v. Precision Drilling Corp., No. 22-1613, 2023 WL 5257688 (3d Cir. Aug. 16, 2023), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment to an oil drilling company that dismissed workers’ claims for gear-changing compensation. In doing so, the court sought to clarify…
Read MoreEEOC Releases Expansive Proposed Regulations to Implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released proposed regulations under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) that include an expansive reading of the requirements imposed by the law. Among the proposed regulations is a proposed rule requiring employers to consider eliminating one or more essential functions of a job for up to 40 weeks…
Read MoreNew Ruling from the National Labor Relations Board May Require Significant Handbook Revisions
On August 2, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision, Stericycle Inc. and Teamsters Local 628, that creates a new legal standard for how the NLRB will evaluate workplace rules and policies to determine if such rules interfere with employees’ protected rights to engage in concerted workplace activity under Section 7 of the National…
Read MoreGeneral Complaints By Other Employees Do Not Necessarily Provide Constructive Notice of Harassment
Although the employee argued that the employer should have known that she was being sexually harassed based on complaints by other employees, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit found that such complaints were not sufficiently similar or close in time to trigger liability for the employer. Moreover, the employer had no duty…
Read MoreWhat Manufacturers Should Know About the ADA’s Exception for ‘Transitory and Minor’ Impairments
Under the Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA), employers have a viable defense to an Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) “regarded as” claim if the impairment in question was “transitory and minor,” although transitory and minor impairments are ill-defined. Manufacturing and Disability The ADA defines “disability” in three ways: (1) a physical or mental…
Read MoreSupreme Court Clarifies Undue Hardship Standard for Religious Accommodation Requests Under Title VII
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Groff v. DeJoy that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires an employer that denies a religious accommodation to show that the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular…
Read MoreA Poor Performance Review Does Not Create a Hostile Work Environment
In a common-sense ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an employee’s hostile work environment (HWE) harassment claim that was based, in part, on a poor performance review. Under Title VII, HWE harassment consists of multiple acts over a period of time that are so severe or pervasive…
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