Human Resources Policies

NLRB: Your employees can use company email to badmouth you and unionize. Four reasons it’s no big deal.

December 12, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

YES, THAT’S RIGHT. NO BIG DEAL.

Hey, if you’re a big employment dork like me, (vote Handbook!), you’ve already read a bunch of blog posts, and you’ll read several more about how the sky is falling after yesterday’s NLRB decision, in which the Board held that employees may use company email to discuss the terms and conditions of employment.

Yes, this decision extends to any workplace — not just unionized workplaces — that is covered by the National Labor Relations Act. And, yes, it may help your employees communicate with one another to form a union (gasp!) or otherwise discuss working conditions, but…

Paid sick leave in Philly may be happening in 2015

December 3, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

It sounds like Mayor Nutter is warming up to the idea of requiring Philadelphia employers to provide employees with paid sick leave.

How can that be? Find out after the jump…

* * *

Do you have a “super” anti-harassment contract with your employees?

December 2, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

I’m gonna pause for a sec while you go and grab a copy of your company’s employee handbook. Now open it up to the anti-harassment policy and, click through, because your world may be about to be rocked…

* * *

What the EEOC plans to tell employers about wellness programs

November 26, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is obsessed with wellness programs.

Or, as the EEOC likes to describe them “‘so-called’ wellness programs.” And not in a “yay, so-called wellness programs are super” kinda way.

No, in recent months, the EEOC has initiated litigation against companies (example, example, example) claiming that they violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Non-Disclosure Act by both requiring medical examination and penalizing employees who decline to participate.

Is it against the law to remote wipe an employee’s Candy Crush high score?

November 18, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Replace Candy Crush high score with email contacts on a personal iPhone used for work (BYOD), and you have the issue that a federal court in Texas recently tackled.

The answer follows after the jump…

* * *

Philadelphia now requires breastfeeding protections for local employees

September 4, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Heads up, Philly employers! This new law takes effect right away!

Read all about it after the jump…

* * *

#SHRM14 updates from the best of the bloggerati

June 25, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Sorry for the late past today, gang. I had planned on putting something together last night, but, two words: sushi coma.

So, here for your enjoyment, whether you’re attending the 2014 SHRM Annual Conference and Expo this year, like I am, or whether you’ve been following along online, is a collection of recent blog posts tracking the event:

“Dispatches from #SHRM14 Day Two: Keynotes, Conversations & Cultural Sensitivity” from John Nykolaiszyn

How yesterday’s federal court strike of PA’s same-sex marriage ban affects employers

May 21, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

ICYMI, yesterday, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled in this opinion that PA’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional.

How fitting that the first gay couple in Philadelphia to obtain a marriage license was Kerry Smith and Rue Landau, who serves as the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR). Congratulations, Rue and Kerry!

So, now that, for the time being, gay marriage is legal in the Keystone State, how does this impact local employers? Find out after the jump…

* * *

Should U.S. employers provide “paid menstrual leave”?

May 19, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

In Friday’s edition of The Atlantic, Emily Matcher’s “Should Paid ‘Menstrual Leave’ Be a Thing?” was shared over 12,000 times.

The article notes that several Asian countries including Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia, offer “menstrual leave” for women endure painful periods. However, Ms. Matcher mentioned that, while many of these laws are “well-intentioned,” many women decline to take leave given the potential embarrassment of having to substantiate the basis for their “menstrual leave” or because they may be viewed as weak.

Katy Waldman, writing at The Slate Blog, says “Thanks, but We Will Pass on Paid Menstrual Leave.” She argues that companies with reasonable sick-leave policies “should be able to accommodate these women without prying into their pants.”

My employee deleted all of her work emails and quit. Can I sue her for that?

May 13, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Well, sure, you can.

But winning that case — especially if you’re thinking about a claim under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act — may be another story.

The CFAA is designed to prevent unauthorized access or malicious interference with a computer system. Often used as an employer-sword, to state a claim for a violation of the CFAA, a company must prove that an employee actually caused damage to its computer system or data. The CFAA defines “damage” as “any impairment to the integrity or availability of data, a program, a system, or information.”