A study reported in the December 4, 2014 issue of the journal Nature offers an interesting framework for discussing honesty in an employment context. Although I disagree with the researchers about their methods and inferences, I still think their study reveals something interesting about human behavior; I also agree that further investigation is needed in […]
Attorney General Eric Holder recently announced the Department of Justice’s official position that Title VII’s definition of unlawful sex discrimination includes discrimination based on gender identity and transgender status. According to the DOJ, Title VII ‘s prohibition against discrimination “because of” an employee’s sex must – under the plain meaning of those words – encompass discrimination […]
A study on people’s moral perceptions in daily life that was reported last fall in the journal Science may bring a fresh perspective to workplace ethics. As illustrated by the study, people sometimes emphasize very different sets of moral concepts when assessing a situation, and in a way that seems to correlate with their political […]
The National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) recently voted, 3-2, to finalize its 2011 proposed regulations (the so-called “quickie election rules”), which are expected to dramatically change the union representation election process under the National Labor Relations Act. The final rules, published in the Federal Register on December 15, 2014, remain as controversial today as […]
In a series of studies summarized in the July 4, 2014 issue of the journal Science, participants were subjected to electric shocks; afterwards, they agreed that they would be willing to pay money not to be shocked again. They were then placed in isolation, awake, for 15 minutes, without cell phones, writing instruments, or other […]
In a development expected by many observers, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled in Purple Communications Inc. that employees have the right to use their company email accounts for protected concerted activity, which may include union organizing. The ruling reverses a prior holding by the Board from December 2007 that emphasized the employer’s property […]
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled on December 9, 2014, that the time employees spend undergoing security screenings, and the time spent waiting to undergo such screenings, is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The decision in Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, No. 13-433, 574 U.S. ___ (2104), clarifies the standard […]
Employers are probably already familiar with the National Labor Relations Board’s prior rulings that employees’ right to engage in concerted activity protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act extends to non-unionized as well as unionized workplaces, and to online social networks as well as discussions in person. A decision by the National Labor Relations […]
Your company has a major project deadline coming up, but an essential employee is about to go on unpaid FMLA leave following the birth of her child. The project has already been pushed back once, and you really need this employee’s help to avoid further complications. Can you ask her to forgo the unpaid leave […]
Introduction On October 2, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear oral argument in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., to decide the amount of notice required to trigger the employer’s obligation to provide a religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Specifically, the Court will decide […]
