Legal Issues

Boorish behavior or harassment? Know the difference

October 26, 2022
Not every crude comment or poorly received joke amounts to sexual harassment. An older federal appeals court decision overturning a sexual harassment jury award offers tips on what qualifies as illegal sexual harassment and where to draw the line.

Don’t discourage employees from taking FMLA leave!

October 25, 2022
The Supreme Court declined to hear an Illinois case involving a corrections officer who claimed a manager told him that he would be disciplined if he took any more FMLA leave.

Keep it Legal: How DEI initiatives wind up in court—what managers need to know

October 21, 2022
Yes, companies understand the importance of DEI plans to gain social credit. But many such programs provide racial and ethnic preferences that are clearly unlawful.

Employers in the hot seat for not reimbursing WFH expenses

October 20, 2022
The tax code doesn’t require you to reimburse employees’ out-of-pocket business expenses. However, state laws may require reimbursement and not just for nonexempts. Employees who were stuck with work-from-home expenses are now suing their employers to recover those costs.

Global gender gap persists

October 18, 2022
According to the 2022 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report, at this rate, it will take 132 years to achieve gender parity.

Keep It Legal: Internal investigations—get them right or pay the price

October 14, 2022
“Investigations are becoming a new and independent source of risk,” attorney Christopher Ward with Foley & Lardner told Business Management Daily during their HR Specialist Summit. “And it’s not simply whether you did an investigation, but whether you did it right. A good investigation usually means a good process.”

Keep it Legal: Recognizing sexual harassment is your job

October 7, 2022
A newly unredacted document alleging an “uncorrected culture of sexual assault and harassment” at investment bank Goldman Sachs states that at least 75 alleged sexual assault and harassment incidents were reported between 2000 and 2011. This should be a wake-up call for managers to identify and prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

What’s in a name?

October 4, 2022
A new study suggests that a tricky name can hurt someone’s chances of getting a callback.

Keep It Legal: Can bossware cure quiet quitting?

September 30, 2022
We’ve all been inundated with the new buzzword “quiet quitting,” doing just the bare minimum to meet expectations. But coasting on the job is nothing new. What is new is spying on workers to make sure they are working, not surfing Facebook, playing Minecraft or tweeting away on Twitter.

Of balls and strikes, discrimination and documentation

September 22, 2022
Major League Baseball has an umpire problem this season. However, one umpire has drawn the ire of players and fans for decades—and he has been embroiled in a discrimination lawsuit against Major League Baseball since 2017.