Just a quick reminder to employers to PRESERVE THEIR RECORDS when litigation is not only pending but also threatened.

If you wait until the sheriff serves you with a summons and complaint, you may have waited too long. "Threatened" includes getting a demand letter from an attorney, or receiving an administrative charge or complaint, or any reasonably objective indication that legal ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced last month that it has launched an online inquiry form.

The online system is in the testing phase and available for only five offices: Charlotte, Chicago, New Orleans, Phoenix, and Seattle. Whether this new system will result in more charges is yet to be determined, but my guess is that it will do so dramatically! The purpose ...

NOTE: As I breathlessly reported last week, the EEOC has issued its long-awaited proposed rule on employer wellness programs and the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Here is a nicer copy than the one that was available then.) Brian Magargle, who knows a lot more than I do about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Affordable Care Act, and I are ...

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 ...

UPDATE (7/2/13): 

This week's Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor, striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, should simplify administration of spousal leave requests under the Family and Medical Leave Act in states that recognize same-sex marriage. Employers will have to grant job-protected FMLA leave in more circumstances than ...