A lot has changed since Mother's Day 2023. Happy Mother's Day weekend, all, including you dads and kids (we couldn't have done it without you)!
How much do you know about pregnancy in the workplace in 2023? Take our quiz...more
5/10/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Documentation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Healthcare ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII
Last fall, I reported on a proposed Enforcement Guidance issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on workplace harassment. I gave the proposed guidance a good review overall, although I had some disagreements...more
*And are sorry you asked. Last Friday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published its final regulations on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The regulations will take effect on June 18, just under a year since...more
4/26/2024
/ Abortion ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
At least one judge thinks so. A federal judge in Lubbock, Texas, has permanently enjoined the federal government from enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the State of Texas and its agencies and divisions....more
3/1/2024
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Quorum ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Standing ,
Texas
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will begin accepting employers’ 2023 Component 1 EEO-1 data starting Tuesday, April 30. The last day to file the data is June 4.
The EEOC anticipates that its Component 1...more
The unconditional offer of reinstatement. Are you perfect? So am I. But I’ve been told that there are people in the world who sometimes make mistakes.
Sometimes employers do things that they think they have a perfect right...more
What takes priority? There was a social media storm this week after a large non-profit organization terminated a volunteer after the volunteer questioned the point of having preferred pronouns in signature blocks.
The woman...more
The teacher had a religious objection.
The Virginia Supreme Court yesterday found in favor of a West Point public school teacher whose employment was terminated because he would not address a transgender student by the...more
12/15/2023
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Demurrers ,
Documentation ,
Due Process ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Free Speech ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
School Boards ,
Teachers ,
Termination ,
Transgender ,
VA Supreme Court ,
Written Descriptions
Even if you didn't do it.
The recent proposed Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace published by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has some good recommendations for harassment training topics....more
It's worth a read. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently released a proposed Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, and it's quite good. Don't let the length intimidate you. If you aren't an...more
10/6/2023
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Comment Period ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corrective Actions ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
LGBTQ ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Expression ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Transgender ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
These six will get the EEOC's attention in 2024-28.
Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released its Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2024-28. Strategic Enforcement Plans provide a helpful preview of...more
9/29/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bias ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
Pregnancy ,
Retaliation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Vulnerable Victims
That's one way to get employers to allow remote work.
We all know that employers with 15 or more employees are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act and may have to provide reasonable accommodations to allow...more
As most of you know, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect on June 27, but employers had virtually no guidance regarding how to comply.
The PWFA requires employers with 15 or more employees to make reasonable...more
After last week’s Supreme Court decision in Groff v. DeJoy, employers should prepare to seriously entertain, and grant, more employee requests for religious accommodation.
Gerald Groff, an Evangelical Christian postal...more
7/5/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
Inconsistencies were fatal to this employer.
It's a well-established principle in discrimination law that an employer can be done in by "shifting explanations" for actions taken against an applicant or employee.
A recent...more
Nothing you wouldn't already have figured out.
This is not the most exciting employment law news, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued some updates to its technical assistance on COVID-19. According to...more
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy, a case I blogged about in January. The case is about what standard of "undue hardship" should apply in religious accommodation cases.
Under every...more
4/21/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USSERA) ,
USPS ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
Pregnancy and lactation accommodation.
Happy new year! Two pieces of legislation included in the $1.7 trillion Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Spending Bill signed into law by President Biden on December 29 will enhance workplace...more
And the Commission will lose its GOP majority.
Janet Dhillon, who was chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during most of the Trump Administration, will be leaving the Commission after this week....more
Comments being accepted thru Dec. 5.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued a draft Strategic Plan for 2022-26, and is inviting public comments through Monday, December 5....more
Be the first employer on the block to have one!
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued a new poster, intended to replace the old (as of yesterday) "Equal Employment Opportunity Is the Law" poster....more
And opens up a can of worms.
In June 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (or, to be more precise, EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows, a Democrat*) issued non-binding guidance about LGBT workers. ...more
Sheesh. I would think so! Here's a story for you:
Some investors bought an apartment complex in Houston with the plan to fix it up and flip it. They decided the Property Manager wasn't doing a good job, so they fired her...more
Probably. Employers, get ready.
Will EEOC lawyers do an end run around the EEOC commissioners? If so, employers are likely to see more lawsuits with the EEOC as a plaintiff, which is never a good thing....more
Everybody's favorite subject.
Last week, Karla Miller -- the workplace advice columnist of The Washington Post -- had a fascinating letter with this problem:
The letter writer is the only female working on a floor with...more