The Employer Handbook Blog

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, better known as CISPA. CISPA provides for the sharing of certain cyber threat intelligence and cyber threat information between the intelligence community and cybersecurity entities, and for other purposes.

However, the majority vote was not without a speed bump, according to this report from Josh Wolford at WebProNews:

Colorado Democrat Ed Perlmutter attempted to tack on a provision to CISPA that would make it illegal for employers to require prospective employees to hand over their social media passwords as a condition of acquiring or keeping a job.

Perlmutter's amendment was voted down 224-189.

Sara Gates of The Huffington Post reports here that CISPA sponsor Rep. Mike Rogers called Perlmutter's proposal an attempt to kill the bill, and suggested that Perlmutter propose the amendment as standalone legislation.

Currently pending in the House is the Social Networking Online Protection Act (SNOPA). SNOPA would effectively accomplish what Perlmutter attempted to do by amending CISPA. Although six states have passed laws banning employer requests for social media passwords of job applicants, and several others have legislation pending, Congress has done little to push SNOPA along. Indeed, the same version of SNOPA was introduced in 2012, but sat dormant.

(h/t @MarkJChumley)

Yesterday, I discussed some pending federal legislation that would expand the FMLA to cover part-time employees. Now, I hear that another bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, known as the Equal Employment for All Act, would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer credit checks against prospective and current employees for the purposes of making adverse employment decisions. 

A copy of the Act and more details on employer credit checks after the jump...

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Continue reading "New federal bill would ban credit checks on employees and applicants" »

*Do I need a disclaimer? Do I?

What a year for The Employer Handbook in 2012! I'm most pleased that, in our second year of existence, readership more than doubled. Although, sadly, the one 2011 reader I had from Papua New Guinea never returned in 2012. I hope she is ok. Yeah, she's ok.

So, what did my readers enjoy most in 2012? Well, apparently, y'all like Polka music. Why else would this be the most-clicked item on The Employer Handbook? What a strange cultured bunch!

As for actual HR/legal-related content, here were the top five based on total page views:

1. Legislation introduced to expand FMLA coverage in PA. I originally posted this in June 2011 and the bill never passed. Move on, people. Move on.


2. Facebook pics of employee boozing at a festival ruin her FMLA claim. This doesn't surprise me at all. I was at SHRM National in '12. I saw what happens when you provide HR "professionals" with access to karaoke and half-priced well drinks. Don't worry, I won't tell. ** Cancels Instagram account **


3. Ethics charges for two lawyers over Facebook friending a litigant. I'm not so sure that the two lawyers are pleased about this. (Note: I love you. All of you. Keep clicking). Nonetheless, my theory that misery loves company in the legal community is confirmed.


4. 4 new employment-law bills now pending in Congress. None passed. Yeah, I'm shocked too.


5. Pepsi and Criminal Background Checks: Beyond the Buzz. This one was a guest post from Janette Levey Frisch. I tried combining chloroform with Pepsi Kona to keep Janette all to myself; however, Janette now blogs at The Emplawyerologist. Make sure to check it out.

So, other than old PA legislation, soda, booze, and farting (Give that one time to breathe, I expect big things), what would you like to hear about in 2013? Let me know in the comments below and I will make all of your dreams come true.

Welcome everyone to the Employment Law Blog Carnival: Hollywood Casting Call Edition.

[Editor's Note: The original theme for this post was the "Employment Law Blog Carnival: Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll Edition." I had this bright idea to begin by cutting and pasting the lyrics to Guns N' Roses' "My Michelle," and, let's just say I bailed after the first line.]

So that leaves us with Plan B, where, after the jump, I have aggregated some of the best, recent posts from around the employment-law blogosphere and fit them together into a single theme: an open casting call.

Because just the other day, this theme came to me after waking from a Codeine/Claritin-D/Mucinex DM-induced slumber, in which I dreamt about casting a recent post of mine -- the one where an employee lost out on an FMLA retaliation claim when her employer fired her after finding Facebook photos of her drinking at a local festival -- while on FMLA. My movie will star Kim Kardashian, in her silver screen debut, as the employee. And Alan Thicke, who played Dr. Jason Seaver on "Growing Pains," could play the company decision-maker. We'll call it "FML Aye Yai Yai!"

[Editor's Note: I'm throwing Thicke a bone here. Don't you think? According to IMDB.com, he just finished production on "Fugget About It", in which ex New York mobster Jimmy Falcone joins the Witness Protection Program and is relocated, with his family, to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Fugget about it, indeed.]

So that's the idea. More great posts and imaginative casting decisions, after the jump...

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Continue reading "Employment Law Blog Carnival: Hollywood Casting Call Edition" »

Well, that didn't take long.

Late last month, I reported on a bill that had been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, known as the Social Networking Online Protection Act (SNOPA), that would prohibit employers, schools, and universities from requiring someone to provide a username, password or other access to online content.

Now, it's the U.S. Senate's turn to get in on the act with its own password bill. Plus, after the jump, I'll have an update on similar legislation winding its way to Governor Christie in New Jersey...

Continue reading "U.S. Senate now has its own FB password bill; NJ nears similar ban " »

Maryland has a new law forbidding employers from demanding that job applicants and employees divulge online passwords. Two weeks ago, the federal government proposed similar legislation. And, last week, news surfaced that Delaware may be placing the same restrictions on employers.

But who needs to demand online passwords, when, according to this report from Consumer Reports, your employees are sharing way more information on Facebook than they realize.

Some of the highlights from the report and a few related tips for employers follow after the jump...

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Continue reading "Report: Employees share WAY more Facebook info than they think" »

But, if you think they do -- maybe you read this article last week -- then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, sucker.

Come on! The sky isn't falling. Demanding social media access from employees and potential hires and is most definitely the exception and not the rule. And I'll set the record straight on this bad business practice after the jump...

Continue reading "Relax! Businesses don't want employee Facebook passwords." »

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It's Janette Levey Frisch. Janette is In-House Counsel at Joule, Inc. where she provides comprehensive legal representation and support to a staffing company with five subsidiaries throughout the East Coast. You can connect with Janette on Twitter here and on LinkedIn here.

Janette's post on criminal background checks, which includes some best practices for employers, follows after the jump...

(Want to guest blog at The Employer Handbook? Email me.)

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Continue reading "Pepsi and Criminal Background Checks: Beyond the Buzz" »

Last year, here and here, I discussed legislation that would prohibit Philadelphia employers from asking job applicants about certain arrests and making any personnel decisions based on records of an arrest that does not result in a conviction. That legislation is now the law. That law is the Philadelphia Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Act.

Let's practice...

"So, do you have any old arrests for streaking across the field at Citizens Bank Park?" -- Illegal.

"How much would I have to pay you to skate across the ice at the Wells Fargo Center in a nude bodysuit?" -- Stupid. Inviting a sexual-harassment claim. But, technically, legal under the new Act.

For more specifics of the Act, check out this e-Alert from my Dilworth Paxson colleagues, Marjorie Obod and Katharine Hartman.

h/t Janette Levey Frisch

According to this recent SHRM survey, only 18% of companies have used social media to screen job candidates. Most cite the legal risks of screening candidates as the reason for not implementing a social-media background check.

While a social-media background check may not be useful in certain instances, I can imagine many situations in which a company would benefit from checking up on candidates online before filling a job opening. Heck, consider that 89% of employers plan to use social media for recruiting this year.

Have I piqued your interest? After the jump, I'll offer some suggestions about how your company can safely run a social-media background check...

Continue reading "3 tips to guide a social-media check on your potential new hire" »

Two weeks ago, I was in Las Vegas at the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, presenting on using social media to make hiring decisions. If you would like to obtain a copy of my presentation, just head on over to our Facebook fan page, "like" us, and download it.

After the jump, I want to touch upon one of the hotter topics we discussed. That is, just what are those red flags that employers should be looking for should they choose to use social media to background-check job candidates?

Continue reading "Barbie Shagwell, whips, and other social-media hiring red flags" »

Back on March 22, I reported that City Council would vote on the "Fair Criminal Screening Standards" bill, a measure that would forbid city employers from discriminating or retaliating against job candidates with criminal convictions. City Council has since approved the bill and Mayor Nutter has signed it.

For more details about this bill and the effect it will have on employers, check out my March 22 post and this e-Alert from Marjorie Obod and Katharine Hartman of Dilworth Paxson LLP.

One thing is clear, Philadelphia employers better act hella-fast to update their employment applications, as this new law will take effect 90 days from when Mayor Nutter signed the bill. So what are you waiting for? (Yes, you have time to watch both the CGI and Alient Ant Farm cover of "Smooth Criminal")

For now, yes.

However, a bill presently pending in City Council could change that very quickly. I'll break down the bill and the impact it will have on local employers after the jump.

Continue reading "Can Philadelphia employers ask job applicants about criminal convictions?" »