Constangy is #1 midsize law firm for women! Law360 has ranked us number one among law firms with 150-299 attorneys. Firms were not even eligible to be ranked if they didn't have at least 49 percent female attorneys, so we are the creme de la creme. Heather Owen, proprietor of FOCUS, our women's leadership blog, has more here.

Like no business I know . . . In our latest installment of ...

Not every obnoxious workplace behavior is unlawful harassment. To violate federal law, the harassment has to be unwelcome, based on a "protected category" (for example, sex or race), and "severe or pervasive."

But most employers aren't satisfied with banning only "illegal" behavior, and rightfully not. The law does a fairly good job of keeping us from each ...

We officially entered the season of summer this week. What are the most common ways employers can get burned? I can think of four right off the bat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtbhrq8JyBw

(In the 1960s, melanoma was cool.)

Sexist air conditioning. It seems like a long time since we've read anything about this employment law "issue." The idea was that office air conditioning ...

I'm going to have to make this a regular series.

A few weeks ago, I posted about an "Ask Amy" column involving a bullying boss, which I thought had really poor employment law advice. (To her credit, Amy posted not one, but two, corrections not long afterward.)

Last week, Karla Miller of the "Work Advice" column in The Washington Post -- who is a bona fide "HR advice" columnist, and a very ...

Last week, we talked about employment investigations. This week, I'd like to talk about what employers do with the information they gathered during the investigation. There are two main tasks:

No. 1: Figure out what probably happened.

No. 2: Decide what action to take based on No. 1.

It's almost impossible to generalize about No. 1 because the results will vary ...

An article in Monday's New York Post discussed misunderstandings that can arise in the workplace based on use of "chat" apps and their associated emoji. A woman interviewed for the article said that she had messaged her co-workers that she would be late for a meeting, and her boss replied with emoji of a "poop" (am I allowed to use that word on this blog?) and a clock.

She was like, what?

She ...

(DEAR READERS: I know that using "Bermuda Triangle" to refer to issues involving the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and workers' compensation is corny, trite, stale, and overdone. But I'm being ironic, so it's ok.)

No. 1: FMLA leave can run _____________ with workers' compensation leave.

A. Consecutively

B. Conformity

C ...

DEAR READERS: Before you accuse me of legal malpractice, take a look at tomorrow's date.  

Habit 1: Discriminate, retaliate, harass -- have a ball! There's a new sheriff in town, with a more employer-friendly, compliance-assistance-oriented U.S. Department of Labor (we think) and the nullification of burdensome regulations like the gone-and-not-lamented Fair Pay and Safe ...

A "print and save" for California employers, to be sure. Richard Bromley and Aaron Rutschman of our Los Angeles-Century City Office have a comprehensive guide to the Golden State's often-confusing laws on paid meal and rest breaks. If you have operations in California, you need to read this and keep a copy for future reference.

The March 2017 edition of ConstangyTV's Close-Up on ...

Remember the Garbage Pail Kids from the '80s? I have had an inspiration that will make my fortune! I'm going to create a set of collectible "HR Horribles"™ trading cards, representing the employees who make Human Resources professionals' lives a living heck.

Here is my first set:

Randy Romeo. Romeo has never met a woman he didn't like, especially if she reports to him, because ...