Employment Law

A new strategic plan and increased funding for EEOC enforcement efforts mean employers need to either pay closer attention, or pay the high price of litigation.

A Los Angeles jury awarded $21.7 million to a worker who claimed she was fired because of her panic attacks. Experts say organizations will need to accommodate a growing number of employees with anxiety disorders or else risk a similar verdict.

Failure to recognize and effectively deal with the reality of social networking can spell a recipe for disaster for any organization. The trick is to prepare and implement a policy in a legally compliant way that fits the employer's business and culture.

National Labor Relations Board rulings and advisories have said that employees may critically discuss work conditions freely on social media. Now, employers are finding they can use social media to help prove employee deception and fraud, and to defend themselves against workplace lawsuits.

The phrase "comprehensive immigration reform" will be heard more often as President Obama continues to address the issue in speeches and meetings with corporate executives. But will reform really benefit organizations and strengthen the U.S. economy?

In its recent decision in the case of Noel Canning v. the National Labor Relations Board, a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated the recess appointments of three members of the National Labor Relations Board, because the Court found the U.S. Senate was not in recess at the time President Obama made the appointments. We asked labor and employment attorney Joel S. Barras of Reed Smith to weigh in on how the decision may ripple outward toward employers.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's new Strategic Enforcement Plan highlights six key areas for 2013, but experts agree recruiting and hiring will take up most of the spotlight.

Positive changes -- and potential pitfalls for U.S. multinationals -- are part of a new labor law in Mexico, which was 42 years in the making but, experts say, was much needed.

As the Supreme Court considers a harassment case that challenges the definition of "supervisor," experts say HR leaders would be wise to revisit discrimination and harassment policies, provide and document the appropriate training for all employees, and offer multiple, clear-cut avenues for reporting complaints.

Although much of a recent webinar was spent reviewing existing cases before the National Labor Relations Board, the presence of the board's general counsel added some fresh insights, with lively counters and questions from an employment attorney.

In recent decisions, the National Labor Relations Board has focused scrutiny on employers accused of violating union and non-union employee rights in written policies containing "at-will" clauses.

An Illinois district court has ruled that an employee's trip to Las Vegas with her terminally ill mother qualified for FMLA leave. The key lesson for HR, experts say, is to determine the trip's chief purpose when confronted with an employee's FMLA request to care for a family member during a vacation.

A jury has found the termination of a suicidal firefighter who purposely set a fire in her father's home to be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The message to employers and HR, experts say, is to work with the appropriate professionals to make an "individualized assessment" of an employee's psychological well-being before deciding whether to cut ties.

In an environment where it seems government agencies are cracking down on employers more frequently, a recent federal district court decision shows that sometimes even the enforcers cross the line.

An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission fact sheet says employers can now be liable for discrimination by showing bias against applicants and employees who experience domestic or sexual violence.

A recent court decision has broadened the obligations of employers, experts say, by requiring them to analyze whether a reasonable accommodation might be required even when a disabled employee can perform the "essential functions" of the position.

Last month, the EEOC targeted three companies for the unlawful discharge of pregnant women, and a bill aimed at protecting the rights of pregnant workers was recently introduced in Congress.

With the re-election of President Barack Obama, employers now have a better sense of the regulatory and legislative challenges that await them.