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September 18, 2021
How should businesses respond to Biden’s vaccine mandate?
President Joe Biden recently announced that he will instruct the Department of Labor to mandate all companies that employ more than 100 workers to require vaccinations or weekly COVID testing. This announcement has left many employers questioning whether they must immediately comply, and whether such a rule will withstand legal scrutiny. Nothing has changed for […]
September 13, 2021
Your employee presents a letter saying she is exempt from the COVID vaccine due a religion you’ve never heard of. Now what?
More employers are mandating COVID-19 vaccines, and this has set off a flurry of requests for exemptions – for both medical and religious reasons. Companies must carefully evaluate each medical and religious exemption request, engage in the interactive dialogue and can obtain documentation. For every request, the assessment is a case-by-case analysis and not one-size-fits-all. […]
September 6, 2021
Taming the workplace bully is necessary to help avoid a toxic or hostile workplace
Workplace bullies are real and dangerous. Studies show that while most bullies are managers, they can also be co-workers, subordinates who possess power and can “bully up,” or even customers and third parties. Bullies have distinct behaviors. They delight in intimidating, degrading, demeaning and humiliating others. They typically have a target or multiple targets. They […]
August 30, 2021
Planning is key when terminating an employee
Terminating an employee is difficult and requires advance planning. Companies typically dread even the thought of having to terminate an employee, let alone consider all the extraneous details. Terminations have been made particularly complicated by the remote work environment. The risk of terminating an employee without planning was recently highlighted when an HR executive from […]
August 21, 2021
Gender stereotypes cost a Florida dealership $500,000; decision should prompt companies to look at promotion practices
A Florida jury awarded $500,000 to a female sales manager at a Harley-Davidson dealership in punitive damages following a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for gender discrimination. The EEOC alleged the woman was denied a promotion to a general manager position at its Tampa dealership because of her gender. The dealership was […]
August 15, 2021
Vaccine mandates are rapidly changing the employment landscape
The COVID-19 delta variant has forced employers to rethink return-to-the-office plans as well as vaccine mandates, while employees continue to push back on both. Gov. Ralph Northam announced in early August a mandate that certain state employees receive the vaccine by Sept. 1 or receive weekly testing, impacting about 122,000 employees. In the announcement, the […]
August 10, 2021
Employers should view the findings from the investigation of Cuomo as a wake-up call to action
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been found to have engaged in sexual harassment of at least 11 women following an independent investigation. The far-reaching report identified behaviors by the governor that are entirely inappropriate for any workplace. The investigators concluded that Cuomo created a hostile working environment for the women who were interviewed. Cuomo […]
August 1, 2021
In the wake of labor shortages, employers need new strategies to attract talent ‘and really utilize everything available’
The dilemma Virginia employers are facing in finding employees is a real and imminent threat to economic recovery and the success of a business. Recently while traveling to Lynchburg on a Sunday morning, an IHOP restaurant was barely half full with customers. There was a “Now Hiring” sign out front. Yet inside, there was a […]
July 24, 2021
Walmart lost a lawsuit brought by worker with Down syndrome
A Walmart employee with Down syndrome who was fired for excessive absenteeism was awarded $150,000 in compensatory damages and a whopping $125 million in punitive damages following a four-day jury trial in Green Bay, Wis. The former employee alleged the chain discriminated against her and failed to accommodate her when it changed her schedule after […]
July 20, 2021
Businesses should learn more about Islamic religious practices to have a more inclusive and diverse workplace
Meat processor JBS USA will pay $5.5 million to about 300 employees to settle claims of discrimination based on race, national origin and religion, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced in June. The disturbing allegations arose from its plant in Greenley, Colo., according to a lawsuit filed in 2010. The EEOC claimed that JBS discriminated […]