For an hourly worker, more frequent milk-expression breaks can be unpaid if she’s completely relieved of work duties during pumping time. But what about making scheduling changes that may cut pay? According to a newly filed lawsuit, that’s not an appropriate approach.
The clock starts ticking when an employee files a complaint. Human resources professionals have a short window to build trust with the complaining employee and demonstrate that their concerns are being taken seriously. Keep these three tips in mind when facing a workplace investigation.
Take solace in the fact that unless workplace animosity creates a truly hostile environment, allegations of discrimination or harassment won’t succeed in court unless an employee can prove that a co-worker targeted him because of protected characteristics such as race, gender, religion or national origin.
Accommodations under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act can look very familiar at first glance. The PWFA requires the same interactive process as the Americans with Disabilities Act and religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The PWFA allows employers to reject specific accommodations if they can demonstrate an undue hardship. The similarity ends there.
We have a comp-time policy, but we’re encountering some pushback from employees. They believe that any time worked over eight hours qualifies for comp time. How should we determine the threshold for comp-time eligibility?
You have workplace rules for a reason, and you can require employees to follow them. If someone breaks your rules or violates your policies, feel free to discipline them. As long as you enforce your rules evenhandedly and impose discipline consistently, courts are unlikely to second-guess your decision to punish employees.
Training provided by other vendors might not stand up to legal scrutiny. And not all outsourced anti-harassment training programs are of equal quality. It’s up to HR to make sure training materials are accurate, reliable and legal. Remember, whether you created the training or outsourced it, your organization is responsible for it.
While family caregiver discrimination is not a new protected category (and no federal law expressly prohibits employment discrimination against caregivers), the FMLA and the ADA specifically protect employees with caregiving responsibilities.
Harassment is unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetic information. Because supervisors and managers are the eyes and ears of every workplace, they have an important role to play in identifying harassment when it occurs, putting a stop to it in their departments and reporting it to HR. They also have a legal obligation to ensure that harassment does not violate the rights of their subordinates.
This training will help managers understand what harassment is and their responsibilities for preventing it and stopping it.
