The allegations of sexual harassment and assault levied against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein have been front page news for the last week. The board of directors of his company swiftly voted to terminate his employment, but only time will tell what impact Mr. Weinstein’s transgressions (and alleged criminal activity) will have on his former company.
An Employee Has Raised a Disability for the First Time During a Skelly. What Now?
This post was authored by Kristin D. Lindgren
Intro
Employers are well aware that employee disabilities can create mine fields due to the technical nature of disability discrimination laws. Even the most well-intentioned employers can run into trouble. But, what happens when the employer has recommended discipline of an employee, and the employee informs the
Prevention, Prevention, Prevention! It’s Time to Audit Your Agency’s Personnel Rules
Prevention of liability starts with auditing your agency’s personnel rules. Indeed, in an employment-related lawsuit, the applicable personnel rule is often “Exhibit A.” Each year, public agencies face changes to employment laws and regulations, best management practices, and internal changes to procedures. Thus, the outcome of a lawsuit may just depend on whether the agency
PERB Expands Right to Union Representation to Interactive Process Meetings
The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) recently held in Sonoma County Superior Court (Sonoma) that employees are entitled to union representation at interactive process meetings. With this ruling, PERB expressly overturned prior precedent on this issue.
Before the Sonoma ruling, PERB recognized a right to union representation in individual meetings with the employer primarily only
Performance Evaluations: Why It’s A Good Thing For Public Employers
In the corporate world, the practice of giving annual performance reviews to employees is under attack. Leading business magazines and newspapers have printed articles advocating for the elimination of performance evaluations. There are even books in the marketplace that teach companies how to get rid of performance reviews. Among the reasons for eliminating annual evaluations
What Happens in Vegas Might Be Covered by the FMLA
The FMLA provides an eligible employee the right to 12 workweeks of leave to care for the employee’s spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition. Consequently, employers generally grant employee requests to use FMLA leave when their family member receives medical treatment or undergoes a surgical procedure. What happens when an employee requests
5 Resolutions for the New Year
It’s that time of year again to reflect on this year’s achievements and set goals for the new year. With the beginning of 2014 upon us, we encourage personnel and human resources directors, managers and
1. Evaluate Your Agency’s Handling of Disability-Related Issues
Employee disability-related issues are among the most complicated and confusing that employers
Genetic Information: A Protected Classification for the 21st Century
In the 1997 science fiction film Gattaca, the main character Vincent lives in a futuristic world where success is based on an individual’s genetic profile instead of experience or education. Because Vincent’s genes are considered inferior, he assumes the identity of a genetically superior man in order to avoid discrimination based on his genetics.
5 New Year’s Resolutions for Public Employers
With the beginning of each new year, we make resolutions that often involve improving ourselves: lose weight; eat healthier; get organized. The new year is also a good time for personnel and human resources directors, managers and analysts to resolve to make their agencies an even better place to work and to reduce risk. Here
EEOC Wastes No Time Implementing New Enforcement Goals by Cracking Down on Pregnancy Discrimination
As part of its Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2012-2016 (“the SEP”), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) identified the following five priorities for national enforcement in the private and federal, state and local government sectors:
1. Eliminating systemic barriers to recruitment and hiring;
2. Protecting vulnerable workecombatrs such as immigrants and migrants;
3. Targeting