In this episode of Employment Law Problems, I discuss some of the basic elements that all employers should consider when responding to an EEOC charge. Many employers will never face a discrimination charge, but for those that do it can be one of the most difficult allegations to defend against if the employer does not take proper precautions. Fortunately, there are a number precautions that employers can take to reduce their risk. Many employers can benefit from understanding the laws around discrimination, training your managers, and documenting various employee problems, which I discuss in ..read more

In this episode of Employment Law Problems, I discuss some of the basic elements that all employers should consider when responding to an EEOC charge. Many employers will never face a discrimination charge, but for those that do it can be one of the most difficult allegations to defend against if the employer does not take proper precautions. Fortunately, there are a number precautions that employers can take to reduce their risk. Many employers can benefit from understanding the laws around discrimination, training your managers, and documenting various employee problems, which I discuss in ..read more

Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash Many companies train employees on sexual harassment, but studies have shown that much of this training is ineffective and does not empower companies and employees to prevent harassment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace issued a report in 2016 finding that some sexual harassment training even caused men to be more likely to blame both the harasser and the victim involved in a sexual harassment scenario. The EEOC’s study goes on to say that training often focused too much on ..read more

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has moved back the deadline to file the Employer Information Report EEO-1 (“EEO-1 Report”) to April 2021 for the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collection. In 2018, approximately 73,400 employers representing 56.1 million employees filed the mandatory report. Now is the time for companies to get the information for this report together, which leads to the inevitable question… What is the EEO-1 Report? The EEO-1 Report is a mandatory survey for employers that meet certain requirements. Employers that meet the ..read more

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash This is one of the most impactful years that the Supreme Court has had on labor and employment law. The Court took on a number of important and controversial issues including gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination, the DACA program, the standard that must be met for proving age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and race discrimination under Section 1981, whether the ministerial exception applies to teachers at religious schools, and whether the government properly exempted religious institutio ..read more

Photo by XiaoXiao Sun on Unsplash Discrimination in the workplace is not something that ended in the 1960’s with the passing of the civil rights act and desegregation of public schools. It continues today. A recent Glassdoor survey found that 61 percent of U.S. employees “have witnessed or experienced discrimination based on age, race, gender or LGBTQ identity in the workplace.”  In particular the survey found that: Forty-two percent of working adults in the US have either been a victim of racism or have witnessed racism at work. Around 45 percent of workers ..read more

Photo by T. Chick McClure on UnsplashWhat is the EEOC? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the government agency that enforces several laws relating to discrimination including those that protect employees from discrimination based on their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 and older), disability, and genetic information. It also protects employees from retaliation because they filed an EEOC charge, complained of discrimination, or testified or participated in an investigation or lawsuit involving an employment discrimination charge. Under t ..read more

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash It is that time of the year again. The time when some companies will have Halloween celebrations that involve employees dressing up in costumes or engaging in office antics. Halloween is one of the most dangerous times for employers because of the possibility of various forms of liability that they may face. The celebrations can cause issues related to religious discrimination, racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and other office problems. Halloween May Contribute to Religious Discrimination Halloween is one of the most interesting holidays for religious di ..read more

Photo by james williams on Unsplash Nearly one in five people in the US (approximately 56.7 million people) have a disability. Only 18.7% of people with a disability had a job compared to 65.7% of those without a disability. Disability issues are increasingly critical for companies to understand especially as the workforce continues to age. One out of every 4 US workers will be over 55 by 2024, which is important because 48% of persons over 65 have a disability. People are also working longer and nearly 40% of people aged 65-69 are still working. As the working population ages, more people in ..read more

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash One of the most difficult tasks that managers, HR, and business owners face is hiring new employees. According to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, the average cost of hiring a new employee is $4,129 and the average time to fill a position is 42 days. This is not a process that you want to do more than you have to (at least for the same position). In addition, employers often hire their problems by not taking the hiring process seriously. Oftentimes companies will hire haphazardly for an ill-defined position. Companies can save themselves a lo ..read more