The Employer Handbook Blog

Proposed bill banning credit checks on employees and applicants reintroduced

December 18, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Second verse, same as the first.

Back in March, I reported here that a 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.

Yesterday, it was the Senate’s turn to get in on the act; the Equal Employment for All Act, that is.

(See how I did that?)

Details on the Senate bill, what it would mean for employers, and its chances of passage after the jump…

Telling an employee her “big fat ass needs to concentrate on losing weight” is not discrimination

December 17, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Let’s talk (alleged) big butts and discrimination after the jump…

(Sir Mix-a-Lot is gonna be feelin’ this post).

New bill in Congress would provide paid family and medical leave

December 16, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

A real game changer: Paid family and medical leave.

Details after the jump…

Your President/CEO may have to pay your company’s wage and hour debts herself

December 13, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Well, that certainly sucks. Even worse than the time I found out that Santa Claus MacGyver wasn’t a real person.

(My psychiatrist says that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I’m not so sure…)

But seriously, I thought that the purpose of a limited liability company was to insulate members from the debts of the company.

After the jump, see how that rule doesn’t necessarily apply when an LLC fails to pay minimum wage or overtime…

GUEST POST: Hidden Substance Use at Work

December 12, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today, we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Melissa Kluska. Melissa currently writes for St. Jude Retreats, a non 12 step alternative to traditional alcohol and drug rehab. As well as writing for St. Jude’s, Melissa enjoys blogging about health and relationships.

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

FACT OR FICTION: Employers may discriminate based on family status

December 11, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post.”

Yesterday, I read this opinion about a white man who claimed that he lost out on a middle school boys basketball coaching job because the school didn’t like the fact that he was married to an Asian ethnic Chinese woman and they have seven mixed race children.

The plaintiff claimed that the school violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The school filed a motion to dismiss, claiming that the man could not state a claim under Title VII. The school prevailed because, well, I’ll let the court tell you:

Camouflage toilet paper and 9 of the other most unusual coworker holiday gifts

December 10, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Leave it to Career Builder to run a survey seeking the most unusual co-worker holiday gifts. Camouflage toilet paper made the list.

(Well, at least it wasn’t used, amirite?)

The complete list follows after the jump…

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Must an employer ask if a disability is causing poor job performance?

December 9, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

You’ve got an employee with performance issues. Big time! Initially, rather than fire her, you make fun of her behind her back put her on a series of performance improvement plans. But, that doesn’t result in — oh, what’s the word I’m looking for? — improvement.

So, you fire her.

Ah, but here’s the little wrinkle for today’s post. The poor performer experienced frequent migraine headaches and struggled with pain and other symptoms caused by endometriosis. As a result of these conditions, she frequently requested medical leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, which you afforded her.

Given the poor performer’s medical issues, before firing her, did you have an obligation to engage in an interactive dialogue with her, consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act to determine whether her health issues caused her performance issues?

The answer follows after the jump…

GUEST POST: What HR needs to know about how immigration law impacts firing decisions

December 6, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Emily Neumann. Emily has practiced immigration law in Texas since 2005, representing both employers and immigrants. Neumann writes a blog on immigration law (immigrationgirl.com) and shares updates on Twitter (@immigrationgirl) and her Facebook page to help her clients stay informed of the latest news. She is a partner in Reddy & Neumann, P.C. in Houston and Dallas.

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

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HR’s 2013 Performance Review (via SHRM’s #nextchat)

December 5, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Yesterday, We Know Next, the muscle-bound social media arm of the Society for Human Resource Management, hosted a NextChat session on Twitter.

Oh, you don’t know NextChat?

NextChat is a one-hour session on Twitter, which runs every Wednesday from 3-4 PM EST on a topic du jour — that’s the soup of the day — affecting HR.

Each NextChat features 8 questions posed to an HR influencer. During theNextChat, other Twitter users may tweet along using the hashtag #nextchat, or simply follow along by searching for the #nextchat hashtag.

This week, the HR influencer was moi. (Go figure). The topic: HR’s 2013 Performance Review.

If you missed yesterday’s NextChat, check out all great tweets after the jump…