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The Employer Handbook Blog

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1.7 million reasons to reconsider issuing attendance points for medically-related absences

Burger Time and Astrosmash…who’s with me, Millennials! [Sigh] What does any of this have to do with employment law? Not much, I guess. The lede said “points,” and then I started thinking about video games, and I’m a sucker for Intellivision nostalgia. Well, anyway, the key here is points. Last week, the…

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“Off-the-clock” discriminatory Facebook messages can create a hostile work environment

As I type this post, I’m watching two of my kids — one dressed as Olaf; the other Elsa — yelling at each other to stop singing Frozen tunes. Now, they’re wrestling — I don’t remember that from the movie. For a snowman, that Olaf is pretty tough. Oh, damn!…

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A recap of EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum’s hour-long Twitter Q&A

Yesterday, EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum took over the Bloomberg Law Twitter handle (@Bloomberglaw) for an hour, and answered questions from employment-law Twitter nerds like me. Commissioner Feldblum covered the EEOC Select Task Force on Harassment,  ADA/FMLA interplay, discrimination and social media, and much more. You can view the entire Q&A here.…

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Latest study indicates rampant transgender discrimination at work

On Tuesday, voters in Houston, TX took to the polls and said no to Prop 1. That’s a ballot measure that would have outlawed discrimination at work against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees and job applicants. Amanda Terkel at The Huffington Post reports here that, despite having widespread support from local…

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Court upholds employee firing after complaining about gay slurs. Was that a mistake?

Mr. Gaff worked as a custodian at a University. He claimed that, on several occasions, his subordinate called him a “fa***t.” So, Mr. Gaff complained to his supervisor. Then, Mr. Gaff was later fired. Retaliation? Are you going to be at the ABA Annual Labor & Employment Law Conference in Philly…

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President Obama wants federal agencies to “Ban the Box”

No more questions about criminal convictions on job applications. Flanked by New Jersey Senator (and former Newark Mayor) Cory Booker (D-NJ), President Obama announced yesterday in Newark, NJ that he would take action to help those with criminal convictions to find jobs. According to a White House Fact Sheet, one of…

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More EEOC rules on employer wellness programs are coming. Will yours make the cut?

Do you follow me on Twitter? If you do, you may have watched me live-streaming some of my one-year-old, who won Halloween hands-down. Well, that and you would have gotten the early heads up that the EEOC was issuing its proposed rules on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), and its…

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Intern fired for racist tweet. But, wait, it gets worse…

On Tuesday, a Fox affiliate in Arizona reported here that an intern at a health and wellness company was fired for an offensive tweet. Specifically, the intern tweeting a photo showing her and a friend in a cotton field with the caption “Our inner n****r came out today.” The intern quickly deleted…