by Tammy Binford
The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) new rule on joint employment puts more employers at risk of joint employer status, meaning they will bear more responsibility related to unionization, bargaining, and unfair labor practice charges.
Q: We have an employee with a severe food allergy. Can we ask all employees to refrain from bringing the specific food into the workplace? Should we ask the employee for a doctor’s note to verify the allergy? Generally...
People rely on all kinds of technology to get their work done. Zoom meetings, Slack messages, scheduling apps, and other tools keep the workplace humming. But at what point does all that tech do more harm than good? Can...
With politics and economics seemingly working against employer efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workforce, many DEI proponents are worried about the future. And a recent report from a...
The European Union (EU) General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR), adopted in 2016 and effective in 2018, was one of the first major pieces of data privacy legislation, and in many ways, it has set the standard for other...
For decades, standardized testing has been subject to attack for discriminatory bias and adverse impact against protected classes. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) 1978 Uniform Guidelines on Employee...
Readers of this column know that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was created to reflect the politics of the incumbent president. Each board member has staggered five-year terms, so every president gets to...
It’s been almost 40 years since the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that a hostile work environment can constitute sex discrimination and sexual harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal...
Arbitration clauses offer a private and often speedy forum in which to resolve employment disputes. Given that many courts are still backlogged from the COVID-19 pandemic, and because legal proceedings have become part...
As summer heats up, employers should keep a close eye on how heat affects their workforce. Heat-related illness is a hot topic for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as well as state OSHA...
When you see the packages of strawberries in the produce department, you probably don’t consider whose employees grew, packaged, and shipped them. The court of appeal recently had to consider whether farmworkers work for...
Basic doctrines of fairness generally prevent the introduction of evidence of misconduct that is unconnected to the accusations made in a lawsuit. Evidence of old episodes of misconduct often fall into that category. Was...
California’s Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) statute is intended to curtail lawsuits brought primarily to chill the rights of petition or free speech under the United States or California...
“The full faith and credit of the United States.” It’s an awesome notion, one that has changed the world and made contemporary international finance and trade possible: a currency so reliable, so respected, that a...
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Acting Director Michele Hodge recently responded to questions from federal contractors on the use of AI in employment decisions. Hodge—who just recently became...
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels spoke to an employer association and covered a wide range of topics on which the commission is focused: The EEOC is working on additional guidance...