Karl Ulrich, Esq., Shareholder at Sebaly Shillito + Dyer and OSBA Board Certified Labor & Employment Law Specialist, gave a presentation at OhioMeansJobs, 4631 Dixie Highway in Fairfield, Ohio with Matt Messersmith
of Signet Pre-Employment Screening. They explored information to consider when hiring new employees.
There have been a number of new developments this year. Christina discusses new federal and state initiatives, new case law and other developments that directly affect employers.
Employers in Utah can fire their employees for any reason or no reason at all. There are limitations to this rule - you can't fire an employee, for example, based on race, gender, religion, or age, or if doing so would breach a contract. You also can't fire an employee if doing so would violate "public policy." This presentation walks through this third limitation on Utah's at-will doctrine, its scope and its pitfalls, and the ways to potentially avoid its traps.
Karl Ulrich, Esq., Shareholder at Sebaly Shillito + Dyer and OSBA Board Certified Labor & Employment Law Specialist, gave a presentation at OhioMeansJobs, 4631 Dixie Highway in Fairfield, Ohio with Matt Messersmith
of Signet Pre-Employment Screening. They explored information to consider when hiring new employees.
There have been a number of new developments this year. Christina discusses new federal and state initiatives, new case law and other developments that directly affect employers.
Employers in Utah can fire their employees for any reason or no reason at all. There are limitations to this rule - you can't fire an employee, for example, based on race, gender, religion, or age, or if doing so would breach a contract. You also can't fire an employee if doing so would violate "public policy." This presentation walks through this third limitation on Utah's at-will doctrine, its scope and its pitfalls, and the ways to potentially avoid its traps.
Topics include the following:
- issues related to COVID-19 in the workplace, including paid leave rights and benefits, return to work standards, and work-from-home arrangements
- Supreme Court decisions on sexual orientation discrimination, Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Equal Pay Act
- new regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act
- expansion of employee rights and employer obligations under Illinois Law
- upcoming anti-harassment training deadline
- legal requirements taking effect in the second half of 2020 and in January 2021
- the impact of a California court’s decision regarding gig workers
- and more…
There were major forces at work this past year that have made the labor and employment landscape in 2015 more dynamic and unpredictable than in recent years. A volatile political climate, still-sluggish economy, historic swing in the mid-term elections and aggressive federal initiatives have left many employers wondering what 2015 holds in store. In this report, we cover some of the hottest employment and health care trends, plus new payroll, tax and benefits information.
Government agencies are expanding their focus on employees’ rights, social media, and other employer policies and it is not just social media policies that are being invalidated. Susan and Nick discuss how recent changes in social media law might affect your company’s confidentiality policies, hiring policies and practices, and discrimination and harassment policies.
Like it or not, social media has become the norm. Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as other informationsharing sites and blogs have forever changed the way people communicate. Employers need to recognize that their employee's personal use of these social networking websites - whether or not the employer permits personal use of these websites at work - is rife with these potential employment issues and other legal exposures, such as potential claims or employee harassment, unfair labor practices and unauthorized disclosure of statutorily-protected information about the company, its customers and employees. This session will address how employers can avoid exposure arising from such risks and how employers need to protect themselves.
Stuart R. Buttrick, partner, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP
Joel Patrick Schroeder, associate, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP
Too Much Information: The Use and Misuse of Pre-Employment Inquiries, Applica...Parsons Behle & Latimer
Employers are gathering more and more information regarding potential employee hires. Recent EEOC rules and FTC regulations have placed additional scrutiny on pre-employment inquiries and background checks by employers. Employers need to protect themselves by knowing what is "too much information." Kevin addresses the permissible bounds of pre-employment information obtained from potential employees during the hiring process.
While trying to satisfy one federal law, employers may inadvertently violate another. For example, an employer who seeks to verify an individual's eligibility to work in the United States might accidentally step over a line and be found guilty of discrimination. If this happens to you, you may end up paying penalties. Here's the story.
C* Summit 2013: Suicide Risk Prediction Using Social Media and Cassandra by K...DataStax Academy
In this presentation, Ken will describe a portion of an early-phase project that uses social media data (tweets, Facebook posts, etc.) from service personnel to predict suicide rates. There's a lot of motivation to provide better data for military psychologies, since more military wind up taking their own lives than are killed in the line of duty. By analyzing social media data that is voluntarily provided by personnel, plus a predictive analytics system, we can provide assessments that help mental health workers focus their time and energy on the most at-risk individuals. This project uses Cassandra as the scalable storage system for this social media data, which is then analyzed in a distributed environment using Hadoop. The project also uses the Solr search support from DataStax Enterprise to provide ways for users to dig into the underlying data, which is critical when understanding the assigned risk levels.
Topics include the following:
- issues related to COVID-19 in the workplace, including paid leave rights and benefits, return to work standards, and work-from-home arrangements
- Supreme Court decisions on sexual orientation discrimination, Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Equal Pay Act
- new regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act
- expansion of employee rights and employer obligations under Illinois Law
- upcoming anti-harassment training deadline
- legal requirements taking effect in the second half of 2020 and in January 2021
- the impact of a California court’s decision regarding gig workers
- and more…
There were major forces at work this past year that have made the labor and employment landscape in 2015 more dynamic and unpredictable than in recent years. A volatile political climate, still-sluggish economy, historic swing in the mid-term elections and aggressive federal initiatives have left many employers wondering what 2015 holds in store. In this report, we cover some of the hottest employment and health care trends, plus new payroll, tax and benefits information.
Government agencies are expanding their focus on employees’ rights, social media, and other employer policies and it is not just social media policies that are being invalidated. Susan and Nick discuss how recent changes in social media law might affect your company’s confidentiality policies, hiring policies and practices, and discrimination and harassment policies.
Like it or not, social media has become the norm. Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as other informationsharing sites and blogs have forever changed the way people communicate. Employers need to recognize that their employee's personal use of these social networking websites - whether or not the employer permits personal use of these websites at work - is rife with these potential employment issues and other legal exposures, such as potential claims or employee harassment, unfair labor practices and unauthorized disclosure of statutorily-protected information about the company, its customers and employees. This session will address how employers can avoid exposure arising from such risks and how employers need to protect themselves.
Stuart R. Buttrick, partner, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP
Joel Patrick Schroeder, associate, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP
Too Much Information: The Use and Misuse of Pre-Employment Inquiries, Applica...Parsons Behle & Latimer
Employers are gathering more and more information regarding potential employee hires. Recent EEOC rules and FTC regulations have placed additional scrutiny on pre-employment inquiries and background checks by employers. Employers need to protect themselves by knowing what is "too much information." Kevin addresses the permissible bounds of pre-employment information obtained from potential employees during the hiring process.
While trying to satisfy one federal law, employers may inadvertently violate another. For example, an employer who seeks to verify an individual's eligibility to work in the United States might accidentally step over a line and be found guilty of discrimination. If this happens to you, you may end up paying penalties. Here's the story.
C* Summit 2013: Suicide Risk Prediction Using Social Media and Cassandra by K...DataStax Academy
In this presentation, Ken will describe a portion of an early-phase project that uses social media data (tweets, Facebook posts, etc.) from service personnel to predict suicide rates. There's a lot of motivation to provide better data for military psychologies, since more military wind up taking their own lives than are killed in the line of duty. By analyzing social media data that is voluntarily provided by personnel, plus a predictive analytics system, we can provide assessments that help mental health workers focus their time and energy on the most at-risk individuals. This project uses Cassandra as the scalable storage system for this social media data, which is then analyzed in a distributed environment using Hadoop. The project also uses the Solr search support from DataStax Enterprise to provide ways for users to dig into the underlying data, which is critical when understanding the assigned risk levels.
Managerial ethics and corporate social responsibilityKnight1040
Social responsibility is a firm’s obligation, beyond that required by law and economics, to pursue long-term goals that will enhance the welfare and interest of the society and the organization as well.
Cloud computing offers much promise to the military by addressing the fundamentals of increasing mission agility / complexity in a climate of economic constraint. This presentation - given to the NATO IST-125 panel in Ankara, Turkey on the 11th Jun 2015 - analyses cloud usage in three project case studies then specifically considers the SECURITY challenge and how this can be addressed as cloud evolves in future.
This presentation, by big data guru Bernard Marr, outlines in simple terms what Big Data is and how it is used today. It covers the 5 V's of Big Data as well as a number of high value use cases.
72 Introduction, Theories, and LegislationArea Temps, a Northeas.docxevonnehoggarth79783
72 Introduction, Theories, and Legislation
Area Temps, a Northeast Ohio temporary agency, agreed to pay $650,000 to resolve a class discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The EEOC charged that the temporary agency considered and assigned (or declined) job applicants by race, sex, Hispanic national origin, and age. The EEOC also alleged Area Temps unlawfully complied with discriminatory requests made by its clients based on race, sex, national origin, and age, and unlawfully fired two of its employees in retaliation for their opposition to Area Temps' discriminatory practices and for one employee's participation in the EEOC's investigation.
In addition to monetary relief, the three-year consent decree settling the suit requires the company to post a notice of resolution regarding this lawsuit that is visible to employees. The company must also provide a notice-of-resolution letter to all applicants, management and selecting officials, and outside clients on the obligations of the company under federal antidiscrimination laws, as well as Area Temps' commitment to abide by such laws.
Certain employers are excluded from coverage under Title VII, including private membership clubs, religious organizations, schools, associations, or organizations hiring American Indians on or near reservations. For those organizations operating solely within the confines of the exclusion, certain types of discrimination are not illegal.
Disparate treatment occurs when an applicant or employee is treated differently because of membership in a protected class. Refusing to hire Blacks as restaurant servers or men as child care workers constitutes disparate treatment, also referred to as intentional discrimination. Evidence of such treatment would include statements by employers or written policies—items that are often difficult to verify or obtain. Common stereotypes about abilities, traits, or performance of people belonging to certain groups may lead to disparate treatment; for example, the stereotype that women have limited math skills could result in women purposely not being assigned to jobs requiring math skills. Assuming applicants who have Hispanic names will have limited English skills and refusing to interview them is another way that stereotypes could lead to disparate treatment.
Disparate or adverse impact occurs when an apparently neutral, evenly applied job policy or employment practice has a negative effect on the employment of people belonging to protected classes. It is demonstrated by statistical evidence showing that people in a protected class were disproportionately affected by a particular "neutral" practice. This type of discrimination, also referred to as unintentional discrimination, might occur through educational requirements or height and weight restrictions that may exclude large numbers of certain group
Chapter 3: Legislation 73
Evenly applied, neutral practices that disproportionately exclude
members of certain groups should be c.
2010 continued a three-year trend of record breaking EEOC charges, with 2010 charges the highest in the Commission’s 45-year history. Our challenging economy, increasingly diverse workforce, new EEO laws and recent court decisions are fueling this steady growth. Keeping up on the trends is critical to protecting your workplace, and sustaining a culture of respect and inclusion
What does this mean for employers? Enhanced anti-discrimination efforts are mission critical. Effective cultural change, behavioral change, and risk management require innovative and integrated anti-discrimination programs. Now, more than ever, reviewing and refining your organization’s EEO compliance programs is essential.
Repeated inquiries can go unanswered, like space probes lost ifelipaser7p
Repeated inquiries can go unanswered, like space probes lost in a distant galaxy. In one of the
most comprehensive studies, résumés were sent out on behalf of more than 40,000 fictitious
applicants of different ages for thousands of low-skill jobs like janitors, administrative assistants
and retail sales clerks in 12 cities. In general, the older they were, the fewer callbacks they got.
Those in their 60s “never do better, and often do worse,” than those a decade or two younger,
said David Neumark, an economics professor at the University of California, Irvine, who
oversaw the research.
It is toughest for women, who suffer more age discrimination than men starting in their 40s, the
researchers found. “The evidence of age discrimination against women kind of pops out in every
study,” Mr. Neumark said.
ADVERTISEMENT
As for Mr. Adair, he said he had been through the same job-application routine so many times
that it felt like “Groundhog Day.” Over the years, he consulted three lawyers about age
discrimination. Each time, they advised that an individual lawsuit would not be worth the legal
costs.
ImageMr. Adair’s notes from a session for job hunters. “It’s devastating,” Mr. Adair, a former
Toyota quality manager, said of his repeated rejections. “You go through the stages just like
dying.”
Mr. Adair’s notes from a session for job hunters. “It’s devastating,” Mr. Adair, a former Toyota
quality manager, said of his repeated rejections. “You go through the stages just like
dying.”Credit...Andrea Morales for The New York Times
With a small pension and Social Security, he said, he and his wife are “just getting by.”
“It’s devastating,” Mr. Adair said. “You go through the stages just like dying. First you can’t
believe it. You’re so sure and your wife is so sure, and even the recruiter is. Then you get mad.”
By the end, you feel like giving up, he said.
Wanted: Greener Employees
Hiring complaints and lawsuits are rarely filed because they are difficult to prove and the cost is
high, said Robert E. Weisberg, a regional attorney with the federal Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission in Florida.
To bring a case against Seasons 52, a national restaurant chain, Mr. Weisberg said, the
commission looked to establish a pattern of bias over a period of years by combining statistical
analyses with testimony from applicants.
ADVERTISEMENT
The agency examined whether the chain could have hired so few applicants 40 or older if there
had been no age discrimination, and calculated the odds at less than one in 10,000, according
to court documents. The commission also collected affidavits from 139 applicants at 35
restaurants.
George Simmons was 45 when he applied at a Seasons 52 in Lone Tree, Colo., in 2014. “My
interview was going well until the interviewer asked me my age,” he stated. After he answered,
he said, he was shown the door. “I asked what was the problem,” he said, “and the interviewer
responde ...
Silence will cost: new tax code provisions means that if there is a non-disclosure agreement in a sexual harassment settlement, the payment and the attorney fees will no longer be eligible to be deducted as business expenses.
Silence will cost: new tax code provisions means that if there is a non-disclosure agreement in a sexual harassment settlement, the payment and the attorney fees will no longer be eligible to be deducted as business expenses.
AlphaStaff Webinar Importance of Drug and Background ScreeningAlphaStaff
Hiring someone is a decision that should not be based solely on the person’s ability to handle the job. While skills required to conduct the job are necessary, one cannot rule out threats caused by an employee with a checkered past (or present). Someone with a criminal record or someone who isn’t who they say they are can potentially cause significant damage to the welfare of the company and its staff.
This webinar, led by one of the country’s premier background check and drug screening companies and a key partner of AlphaStaff, will highlight the need, the process and the advantages of proper pre-employment screenings. Presented by Sterling Infosystems.
The research upon which this William Fry report is based was undertaken by Amárach Research.
Two separate surveys were conducted, one among employers and one among employees of organisations operating in Ireland and of a size of 50 employees or more. A range of questions relating to social media in the workplace were asked of both groups to allow for an employer and employee perspective to be captured. A total of 200 employers were surveyed via telephone interviews and 500 employees were interviewed online. All interviewing was conducted in February 2013.
More details from William Fry: www.williamfry.ie
3. Social Media - monthly users
● Facebook - 1.28 billion
o 63% visit once a day, 40% twice a day
● Twitter - 255 million
o 46% visit once a day
● LinkedIn - 76 million
● Pinterest - 60 million Quantcast.com
4. Social Media Recruiter Usage
Similarities:
● Job postings
● Vetting candidates
Jobvite - Social Recruiting
78 % of Recruiters have made a
hire using Social Media
6. Risk cont’d - Discrimination
Social Networking sites contains info covered
under Title VII
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that prohibits
employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race,
color, national origin, and religion. It generally applies to employers with 15
or more employees, including federal, state, and local governments. Title VII
also applies to private and public colleges and universities, employment
agencies, and labor organizations.
7. Discrimination case law examples
EEOC v. Choctaw Transp. Co., Inc., 1:10-cv-01248-JDB-egb (W.D. Tenn. Jan. 19, 2012) In January 2012, a marine
construction and transportation company located in Dyersburg, Tenn., will pay an African-American job applicant
$75,000 to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. According to the EEOC's lawsuit, the company
refused to hire a Black job applicant for a deckhand position because of his race in violation of Title VII. In addition to
the monetary relief, a three-year consent decree requires the company to use its best efforts to fill up to 25
percent of available positions with African-Americans.
EEOC v. MWR Enterprises Inc., II, C.A. No. 3:10-cv-00901 (M.D. Tenn. Feb. 23, 2012) In February 2012, the owners
of Piggly Wiggly supermarkets in Hartsville and Lafayette, Tenn., agreed to pay $40,000 to settle a race and gender
discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. In its lawsuit, the EEOC asserted that the Piggly Wiggly locations owned by
MWR Enterprises Inc. II violated federal law by maintaining policies and practices that intentionally failed to hire African-
Americans because of their race for positions at the company's Piggly Wiggly store in Hartsville and Lafayette. The
EEOC further charged that the company maintained a segregated work force and an established practice of not hiring
males for cashier positions at the same locations. The four-year consent decree also requires Defendant MWR
Enterprises Inc., II, to establish a written policy which provides that all job assignments will be made without
consideration to gender; establish guidelines and procedures for processing employment applications; provide Title VII
training on race and gender discrimination to its managers; meet recordkeeping and reporting requirements; and post a
notice about the lawsuit and settlement at its store locations.
8. Discrimination cont’d
• ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act
• ADEA - Age Discrimination in Employment Act of
1967
• GINA - Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of
2008
• VEVRAA – Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment
Assistance Act of 1974
9. Discrimination - cont’d
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)- prohibits discrimination against
people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and
governmental activities.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)-
protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basis
of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment.
The ADEA is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
- In Neiman v. Grange Mutual Casualty Co. (C.D. Ill. 4/26/12), the plaintiff claimed that he was
not hired for a position because of his age. The employer argued that it could not have considered the
plaintiff’s age because it had no idea how old he was when it made its decision. The plaintiff, however, argued
that the employer must have been aware of his age because he included the year he graduated from college
on his LinkedIn profile.
10. Discrimination - cont’d
GINA - Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 is
an Act of Congress in the United States designed to prohibit the use of genetic information in health
insurance and employment. The Act prohibits group health plans and health insurers from denying
coverage to a healthy individual or charging that person higher premiums based solely on a genetic
predisposition to developing a disease in the future. The legislation also bars employers from using
individuals' genetic information when making hiring,firing, job placement, or promotion decisions.
EEOC v. Founders Pavilion, Inc., 13-CV-01438 The EEOC charged that Founders Pavilion requested family medical
history as part of its post-offer, pre-employment medical exams of applicants. As part of a five-year consent decree
resolving the suit, Founders Pavilion will provide a fund of $110,400 for distribution to the 138 individuals who were
asked for their genetic information.
11. Negligent Hiring
Employers can be held liable for an employee’s
wrongful acts, if the employer knew or had reason
to know the risk of employing a certain individual.
12. Negligence cont’d
• A furniture company was found liable for $2.5 million for negligent hiring and retention of a
deliveryman who savagely attacked a woman customer in her home. (Tallahassee Furniture Co.,
Inc. v. Harrison)
• A nursing home was found liable for $235,000 for the negligent hiring of an unlicensed nurse with
numerous prior criminal convictions who assaulted an 80-year-old visitor. (Deerings West Nursing
Center v. Scott)
• An employee with a criminal record sexually abused a child; his employer was found liable for
$1.75 million for negligent hiring and retention. (Doe v. MCLO)
• A vacuum cleaner manufacturer was found liable for $45,000 because one of its distributors hired
a door-to-door salesperson with a criminal record who raped a female customer in her home. The
manufacturer should have required its distributors to conduct pre-hiring screening of door-to-door
salespersons to prevent hiring of persons with criminal histories. (McLean v. Kirby Co.)
13. Disparate Impact
A theory of liability that prohibits an employer
from using a facially neutral employment
practice that has an unjustified adverse impact
on members of a protected class. A facially
neutral employment practice is one that does not
appear to be discriminatory on its face; rather it is
one that is discriminatory in its application or
effect.
15. Disparate Impact cont’d
Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 91 S.Ct. 849, 28 L.Ed.2d 158 (1971), articulat
ed the disparate impact theory and constructed a model of proof that the plaintiff and
defendant must use in presenting their cases. In Griggs, the employer required a high sc
hool diploma and a passing score on two professionally developed tests. Although the lo
wer courts found no liability because the plaintiff failed to prove that the employer had a
discriminatory motive for the requirements, the Supreme Court reversed the decision.
The Court stated that Title VII "proscribes not only overt discrimination but also
practices that are fair in form, but discriminatory in operation."
In a famous quote, the Court said that the
"absence of discriminatory intent does not redeem employment procedures
or testing mechanisms that operate as 'built in headwinds' for minority groups and
are unrelated to measuring job capacity."
16. Disparate Impact cont’d
Ricci v. DeStefano, 557 U.S. 557 (2009), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court
concerning employment practices by New Haven, Connecticut's fire department. Eighteen city
firefighters, seventeen of which were white and one was Hispanic, brought suit under Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 after they had passed the test for promotions to management positions and
the city declined to promote them. New Haven officials invalidated the test results because none of the
black firefighters scored high enough to be considered for the positions. City officials stated that they
feared a lawsuit over the test's disproportionate exclusion of certain racial groups from promotion
under the controversial "disparate impact" theory of liability.
The Supreme Court heard the case on April 22, 2009, and issued its decision on June 29, 2009. The
Court held 5–4 that New Haven's decision to ignore the test results violated Title VII because the city
did not have a "strong basis in evidence" that it would have subjected itself to disparate-impact liability
if it had promoted the white and Hispanic firefighters instead of the black firefighters. Because the
plaintiffs won under their Title VII claim, the Court did not consider the plaintiffs' argument that New
Haven violated the constitutional right to equal protection.
17. How to mitigate risk for Employers
Social Media policy:
Collaborate with Legal, HR, and Management
to adopt a comprehensive policy that covers
recruitment activities
18. Mitigate risk cont’d
Job Descriptions:
• Organization needs to have written, detailed, and
standardized job descriptions that could be used in the
event a candidate alleges discrimination
• Follow the EEOC, FLSA, DOL suggested format
19. Mitigate risk cont’d
Application & Selection process:
• Needs to be part of a larger marketing mix
• Offer the option for candidates to fill out an application
on site via computer or paper
• Designate a non-decision maker to screen applicants
sourced from Social Media and scrub the non-relevant
information before presenting it to the Hiring Manager
20. Risk – Application & Selection cont’d
Interviews:
• Process needs to be consistent
osame questions
osame manner
Pre-employment testing:
• Confirm its intended use
• Make sure it is valid and reliable
21. Risk – Application & Selection cont’d
References:
• have a process
• determine number of references
• previous supervisors are key
22. It is legal to use social media to source and recruit candidates and it can be a
very useful tool but hiring decisions can not hinge soley on any information
considered a “Risk” to your Organization.