Category – Equal Pay: Employment & Labor Insider

Posts in Equal Pay.

15 for '15: Employment and labor resolutions for the new year

By David Phippen of our Metro D.C. Office.

While the year is still young, here are 15 New Year's resolutions that employers may want to make:

1. Make sure your "independent contractors" are really independent contractors. "Independent contractors" are under scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, state and local agencies, plaintiffs' lawyers, and union organizers. A misclassification can cost you back taxes, back pay (including overtime), and back benefits, as well as penalties and interest.

2. Review your email policies. The NLRB recently found that employees generally have a right to use employer email systems during non-working time in support of union organizing and concerted activity. The Board's decision means that many employer email use policies, as currently drafted, would probably be found to violate the National Labor Relations Act if an unfair labor practice charge were filed or a union tried to organize employees and argued that the employer's email policy interfered with the organizing efforts. In light of the new "quickie election" rule that the NLRB issued last month, both union and non-union employers would be well advised to review their email policies and revise as needed. (The "quickie election" rule is scheduled to take effect on April 14, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other employer groups, including the Society for Human Resources Management, filed suit on Monday seeking to block the rule.)

It's not too late to register for our webinar on the NLRB's new rules on "quickie elections" and employee email use. The webinar, featuring labor attorneys Tim Davis, Jonathan Martin, and Dan Murphy, is from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern tomorrow (January 8). Be there, or be square!

Who needs HR? We all do.

4.11.14
Posted in Affirmative Action, Americans with Disabilities Act, Background Checks, Blacklisting, Class actions, Defamation, Discrimination, Drug Testing, Equal Pay, Family and Medical Leave Act, Harassment, Labor Relations, Protected Concerted Activity, Retaliation, Safety, Settlements, Social media, Wage-Hour

An article by Lauren Weber and Rachel Feintzeig in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal caught a lot of attention -- it was about companies that have made the decision to do without a Human Resources function.

The idea drew some positive response on Twitter:

HR stifles innovation and bogs down businesses with inefficient policies and processes. http://t.co/5cGRIwHaxR
— Mike Brice ...

The gender pay gap will not go away in the future.

By Robin Shea on 9.20.13
Posted in Discrimination, Equal Pay

Oh, no! I won't get equal pay until after I'm dead! And by then, I won't need it!

A study released this week by the Institute of Women's Policy Research says that at the rate we're going, women will not achieve pay equity until 2058.

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Actually, I think the IWPR is too optimistic about the closing of the pay gap in 2058. I predict that the pay gap will not be ...

Employment law in the news: Lightning round

By Robin Shea on 6.21.13
Posted in Equal Pay, Harassment, Labor Relations

Five quick takes this week (and I do mean quick) because my family reunion is this weekend.

I never thought deep-frying macaroni and cheese demonstrated particularly good judgment . . . Paula Deen needs to button her lip. Here is the National Enquirer blurb that broke the story. And here is the full transcript of her actual deposition testimony.

Should customer bullying be a component of ...

Is your company a target of the EEOC?

By Robin Shea on 5.2.13
Posted in Discrimination, Equal Pay, Pregnancy

Is your company an EEOC target?

I've written before about the Strategic Enforcement Plan of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was officially adopted last December, and the Commission's priorities. Last week, EEOC Commissioner Victoria Lipnic spoke about the Plan in more detail at legal compliance symposium.

Commissioner Lipnic is a Republican who used to ...

The one thing an employer can do to prevent pay equity claims that's easy, cheap, and doesn't involve lawyers.

By Robin Shea on 3.27.13
Posted in Discrimination, Equal Pay, Wage-Hour

NOTE: Because of the holiday weekend, this will be our "Friday" post of the week. Happy Passover, Easter, or end of March, as the case may be!

"Hippity, hoppity, y'all!"

This is my third and final installment on equal pay -- at least, until I decide to talk about it again. My first post is here, and the second is here.

What is the one simple, cheap, and easy thing that an employer can do to minimize ...

OK, the pay gap is mostly bogus -- but what about the rest of it?

By Robin Shea on 3.22.13
Posted in Affirmative Action, Discrimination, Equal Pay, Wage-Hour

My post last week on why the "gender pay gap" is mostly bogus generated a great discussion in the comment box. In the hopes of keeping it going, this week I'd like to talk about some of the discrimination or quasi-discrimination issues we do occasionally find.

That nasty remaining five percent or so* that can't be explained by personal choice.

*Completely unscientific percentage.

If your ...

Pay gap? Yes. Discrimination? Rarely.

By Robin Shea on 3.14.13
Posted in Affirmative Action, Discrimination, Equal Pay, Work-Life Balance

Last spring I had the honor of talking about equal pay legislation with Stephanie Thomas on her podcast The Proactive Employer. My counterpart and the star of the show was Lilly Ledbetter.

Yes. That Lilly Ledbetter. Lilly Ledbetter of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The Lilly Ledbetter who wore a red suit and stood beside President Obama when he signed the Fair Pay Act into law. Ms ...

EEOC approves Strategic Enforcement Plan, adds equal pay to list of priorities

By Robin Shea on 12.19.12
Posted in Americans with Disabilities Act, Discrimination, Equal Pay, Harassment, Retaliation

(As the agencies and courts enter their year-end flurry of mischief, I'll be doing quick posts as needed on the latest developments.)

Dum-da-dum-dum!

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has adopted essentially the Strategic Enforcement Plan that I posted about earlier this year. The final version has added "equal pay enforcement" to its list of high priorities. Here is the ...

Obama 2.0: What employers can expect to see in the next four years

By Robin Shea on 11.9.12
Posted in Americans with Disabilities Act, Discrimination, Employment at Will, Equal Pay, Family and Medical Leave Act, Labor Relations, Protected Concerted Activity, Social media

Well! OK!

It's been an interesting week, hasn't it? Congratulations to President Obama on winning a second term. My Election 2012 coverage would not be complete without some labor and employment prognostications for Obama Administration II.*

*Please do not read these again in 2016 to see how accurate I was. I don't want to be known as the Dick Morris of employment law bloggers.

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