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boxing gloves

Or, as Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) proclaims in this press release for the introduction of the Fair Employment Protection Act of 2016, this legislation “restores workplace protections to ensure that Americans harassed on the job by their supervisors are treated fairly and receive the justice they deserve.”

It’s all in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.

***ducks Bernie Sanders paperweight***

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Birthday candles.jpg
On Wednesday, the FMLA celebrated its 22nd birthday. Did you know that the U.S. is the only industrialized nation without paid family medical leave? Yes, really. And, while I don’t expect that to change anytime soon, you may be interested in learning how the DOL plans to enforce the law. Here’s a preview of FMLA enforcement trends from my buddy Jeff Nowak at FMLA Insights.

And here’s that Tove Lo song that I can’t get out of my head. Sorry.

Image Credit: “Birthday candles” by No machine readable author provided. Ed g2s assumed (based on copyright claims). – No machine readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims).. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

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Over yesterday’s lunch hour, SHRM hosted a fantastic webinar entitled, “Changes to the Department of Labor’s Overtime Rules,” featuring Michael Eastman and Nancy Hammer. If you missed it, and you’re interested in learning more about the single most important change in the law for 2016 to impact your business, you can catch the one-hour replay here. Or, you can view my not-so-snarky live tweet recap here.

Either way, it’s worth your time.

(And, by “either way,” I mean skip my tweets and register for the webcast on-demand).

Yesterday was interesting.

  1. I discovered what it’s like to use a coffee shop (with free wifi) as a law office. I even converted the empty table next to me into my conference room. I made silent vow to myself never to do that again.
  2. I learned what “eponymous” means. It was not what I thought.

So did you hear the one about the prison guard who, for four years, didn’t tell his employer about his other job? The one where he served as a biker gang “enforcer.” And his biker gang nickname? Hit Man. The biker gang enforcer, who was also guarding prisoners, was known as Hit Man.

How do you think that went over at the old hoosegow? Not so good.

David Stephanides at Wolters Kluwer’s Employment Law Daily has the full scoop here. Apparently, Hit Man’s grievance didn’t go over so well either.

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Amy Klimek.

Amy is an experienced HR recruiter and VP of Human Resources for ZipRecruiter, a company that simplifies the hiring process for small to medium size businesses. Prior to that Amy has held similar roles at Rent.com, eBay and US Interactive. For Amy, corporate culture isn’t about dogs and free lunches, it’s about empowering employees and creating an enriching environment for people to excel.

(Want to guest blog on an employment-law topic at The Employer Handbook? Email me).

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Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. In Abercrombie, the company did not hire a woman who wore a headscarf at her interview, because she did not conform to the company’s Look Policy.

The issue before the Supreme Court was whether an employer can be liable under Title VII for refusing to hire an applicant or discharging an employee based on a “religious observance and practice” only if the employer has actual knowledge that a religious accommodation was required and the employer’s actual knowledge resulted from direct, explicit notice from the applicant or employee. Continue reading

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