Federal law
Don’t take credit-report screening advice for granted
It was more than six months ago when craft retailer Michaels was allegedly informed that it needed to move its background check disclosure statement on its job applications. Michaels was allegedly told by consumer reporting agency General Information Services Inc. that it needed to put that disclosure on a separate document, as it was “included…
Read MoreSupreme Court: employers do not have to pay employees for preliminary, postliminary job activities
In December, the Supreme Court overturned a previous decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding whether employers are required to pay employees and contractors for the time they spend in security prior to or following their working shift. The Supreme Court stated that employers do not have to compensate employees for their time…
Read MoreImmigration Executive Order brings changes for employers
stated intentions to reduce illegal immigration along the U.S. border, and streamline the legalization process so that long-time resident immigrants will be able to obtain documentation that would allow them to work legally in the United States. The goal of the Order is to “make it easier and faster for high-skilled immigrants, graduates and entrepreneurs…
Read MoreSupreme Court to decide: is pregnancy a temporary disability?
In early December, the Supreme Court began listening to arguments regarding whether employers should be required to include pregnancy in their coverage for short-term disabilities. The case was brought by Peggy Young, a Maryland woman who had been working as a UPS driver for four years, but lost her job when she became pregnant. Prior to…
Read MoreNewly passed Act includes improvements to WOSB procurement program
how money can be appropriated each year for the U.S. Department of Defense’s activities. The law was originally written in 2000, and is updated each year, but it contained limitations on the way that woman-owned small businesses could participate. The law prevented woman-owned small businesses from proposing contracts that were comprehensively over $5 million (among…
Read MoreEEOC files claims against FedEx, Wal-Mart for alleged disability discrimination
filed against FedEx Ground in North Carolina, as well as a Wal-Mart in Maryland, for alleged violations to the ADA. In the case of FedEx Ground, the EEOC claims that reasonable accommodations were not made for employees that are deaf or hard-of-hearing, as employees were not provided with a sign-language interpreter or closed captions during…
Read MoreEEOC files first suits against employers for discrimination toward transgender employees
took on two employment discrimination cases on behalf of two transgender individuals. The EEOC is suing Lakeland Eye Clinic in Florida on behalf of Brandi Branson, and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Home in Michigan on behalf of Amiee Stephens, both of whom were fired from their jobs when their employers discovered that they were…
Read MoreIll. politicians: is it moral to request background checks for undocumented children?
Fifty-seven thousand unaccompanied immigrant children have crossed the border from Mexico into the United States over the past nine months, many of them from Central American countries. Sen. Mark Kirk stated that 429 of these children were currently in custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Chicago, but that number was…
Read MoreObama issues executive orders regarding ‘Equal Pay Day’
On “Equal Pay Day,” which took place on April 8, President Obama issued two executive orders that will attempt to close the pay gap for women and minorities. Obama’s first order was that federal contractors would not be allowed to retaliate against their employees for discussing compensation. The second order stated that the U.S. Department…
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