When leaders decide a reduction in force is unavoidable, HR plays a central role in ensuring the process is legally sound, fairly applied and handled with respect.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced Project Firewall, a new enforcement program that will investigate whether employers are abusing visa programs that bring non-citizens into the country to work.

What should an employer do when confronted with a demand to fire an employee over social media posts that may attract unwanted attention to their employer?

We were approached by a member of the public who claims an employee of ours made a social media post about the killing of Charlie Kirk, requesting that we fire him. The problem is he’s a former employee and not a current one, but apparently his social media footprint still lists him as our employee. What can we do?

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will have even more authority regarding immigration enforcement, according to a final rule published by the Department of Homeland Security on Sept. 5. Essentially, the new rule will allow greater immigration enforcement by designating more agents authorized to conduct criminal investigations and arrests.

Because the Trump administration fired NLRB Commissioner Gwynne Wilcox shortly after his inauguration, the agency now lacks a quorum and can’t conduct business or make precedential decisions. Some states have stepped in with their own new labor rules for private-sector employers. That may complicate things tremendously for private-sector employers.

When considering how many hours an employee is ordinarily working: How do you figure the ordinary working hours of an exempt employee whose actual work is on an as-needed basis and often exceeds standard in-office hours to the point that the employer doesn’t even know for sure how much time that exempt worker is working?

Thanks to recent Supreme Court guidance, men bringing reverse-discrimination claims no longer face extra procedural hurdles. That makes these cases easier to start. But as this 6th Circuit opinion shows, they are still hard to finish without evidence that sex was the real reason for the decision.

• Retention periods. Discover exactly how long to retain various documents, including applications, résumés, FMLA forms, payroll records, leave requests, medical data, benefits information and more.
• Document storage. Understand the proper way to organize documents, which ones need to be maintained in separate files and how electronic storage rules differ from those for paper storage.
• Reasonable accommodation records. Correctly handle requests related to disabilities, pregnancy impairments, religion and genetic information.
• Indispensable records. Learn which records should never be deleted and why, as well as the requirements for storing and deleting communication records.
• Personnel file requests. Know what to do when lawyers or employees ask to review personnel files—this varies by state and timing of the request.
• I-9 updates. Know what hiring and identity documents to keep and where to store them.

September is National Recovery Month, highlighting the work being done to help Americans recover from often-devastating addictions to drugs and alcohol. It’s a good time to review your policies on detecting, preventing and eliminating drug abuse in the workplace to make sure you’re doing so the legal way.