Most hiring decisions are predicated in some part on subjective criteria. Let’s take for example, “Attitude and communication skills” which are on the top the hiring criteria for Phil Gerbyshak at Slacker Manager’s based on his post 5 Must Have Skills. Undoubtedly these traits were assessed by one or more members of the Phil’s hiring
Switching to a Paid Time Off Program (PTO) has Practical and Legal Implications
Traditional leave programs segregate time off into categories like vacation, sick time and personal time requiring HR professionals to track both the time off and the reason it is being taken. Sick time abuses are addressed by tightly monitoring the reasons for sickness-related absences and disciplining employees for excessive absenteeism. Many employers have decided to get away
The Genesis of a New Frontier in Employment Law: What’s “GINA” Got To Do With You?
On May 21, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 ("GINA"). GINA amends three employment-related laws including: (1) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII); (2) the Employee Retirement Insurance Security Act (ERISA); and (3) the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). While
OFCCP Audits Focus on Systemic Discrimination
The OFCCP reports a record $51.7 million recovered for 22,251 workers. Of the recovery, 98% was collected for cases of systemic discrimination in the application process because of unlawful employment policy or practice according to a published account. Much of the monetary recovery came from the 14 cases of systemic discrimination referred to litigation with the
Employer Bears The Burden Of Proving That Employees Were Terminated For Reasonable Factors Other Than Age
On June 19, 2008, the United States Supreme Court is its decision in Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory holding that an employer defending a disparate impact claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) bears the burden of persuading the factfinder that its use of "reasonable factors other than age" (RFOA) was reasonable.
U.S. Supreme Court Decides Several Employment-Related Cases
On June 19, 2008, the United States Supreme Court issued four employment-related decisions that are briefly summarized as follows:
Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory: The government ordered its contractor to reduce its workforce. The contractor had its managers select employees for layoff based on factors including performance, flexibility, critical skills and seniority. The resulting
Job Duty of Getting Coffee for Boss is not Sexual Harassment and Early Departure With Pay is Not Actionable Retaliation
The act of getting coffee is not a gender specific act that can form the basis for a sexual harassment claim according to a recent court decision in Klopfenstein v. National Sales and Supply. The plaintiff had asserted that being compelled to perform what she considered to be a ‘servile task’ was, in and
Genie cannot be put Back in the Bottle once Botched EEOC Filing gets to Court
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Federal Express v. Holowecki decision lowered the bar on what qualifies as a “charge” for purposes of an employee satisfying the procedural prerequisites for getting into court on a federal discrimination claim. Commentators, like Jon Hyman at the Ohio Employer’s Blog, have criticized Holowecki as unfair to employers:
My problem with
Employee’s Abortion As Basis For Discrimination Claim
A company’s termination of a female worker’s employment for missing work in violation of an attendance policy is illegal discrimination if the termination decision is sufficiently related to the woman’s exercise of her right to an abortion. On May 30, 2008, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in Jane Doe v. C.A.R.S.
Carnival of HR # 34
The Carnival of HR has its usual compliment of excellent postings on interesting topics.
Leading off is a discussion of the two sides of generational differences in the workforce. Dr. Ira Wolfe from the Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 posts on Gray ceiling disrupts succession plans for Gen Xers which discusses the recruiting challenges created by older