Employment Law Watch : Employment & Labor Lawyer & Attorney : Reed Smith Law Firm

Background Checks to the Foreground: Protecting Yourself When Gathering and Using Information About Applicants and Employees

Employers that seek to avoid hiring risky employees frequently conduct background checks on applicants aimed at uncovering facts that may help to avoid a “bad hire.” Toward that end, many employers not only contact previous employers for references, but also obtain credit reports, criminal records, and other background information that they believe may help decide whether to make a job offer.

But employers that seek or use such information face an increasing number of potential claims:

• Federal law may require not only providing notice to and receiving consent from applicants before doing a background check, but may also require sending notices to an applicant who is rejected based on the results of such a check, both before and when that decision is made.
• A growing number of states flatly prohibit or severely limit the use of credit checks, arrest records, and even criminal convictions in making employment decisions.
• The EEOC has challenged the use of such information as having an unlawful disparate impact on certain protected groups.
• Employers that obtain such information must take extraordinary steps to protect it from disclosure.

This program is designed to make employers aware of what they can and cannot do in this area, and to help provide practical guidance on how hiring managers can best obtain useful information while navigating through this increasingly dangerous minefield.

This presentation will be made via videoconference from our Chicago office. Members of our Labor & Employment team will host the presentation in our other offices and be on hand to advise on any local issues that may arise.

Date:  Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Time:  12:00pm ET / 11:00am CT / 9:00am PT

Speakers:  James A. Burns, Jr. and Abigail Flynn-Kozara

Who Should Attend: All levels of management, from human resources professionals to CEOs and general counsel

CLE: Presumptively approved for CLE credits in CA, IL, NJ, NY, PA – 1.5 substantive; VA credit pending

Additional Details: A meal will be provided. The seminars are complimentary; space is limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Business or business casual attire is suggested.

RSVP by May 20.

The Growing Threat of Retaliation Claims

In fiscal year 2010, retaliation claims became the highest percentage (36.3 percent) of all types of claims filed with the EEOC. More and more, employees are filing claims based upon prior charges or lawsuits, upon filing an internal harassment complaint, upon their participation in internal investigations, or upon some protest or even comment about an employment policy.

In the past two years, the Supreme Court has decided two cases that have greatly expanded the nature of the actions that can be attacked as retaliatory and who can file such claims. In one decision, the Supreme Court accepted the concept of third-party or associational retaliation, and permitted an action to proceed in which a fiancée of another employee alleged that he was fired because of his fiancée’s EEOC charge. In another decision, the Supreme Court relaxed the requirement in discrimination statutes of a tangible "employment action" by permitting a challenge to any action that is “materially adverse” and is likely to deter a reasonable employee from pursuing EEO remedies. This has the effect of broadening the scope of what can be challenged in a retaliation lawsuit.

In addition, the scope of potential retaliation/whistleblower claims continues to grow, and many new or amended statutes other than traditional EEO statutes now support retaliation claims.

This seminar will explain these developments and provide practical guidelines for employers to address this increasingly growing basis for litigation and expansion of the scope of who can challenge employer actions and what can be challenged.

This presentation will be made via videoconference from our Pittsburgh and Philadelphia offices. Members of our Labor & Employment team will host the presentation in our other offices and be on hand to advise on any local issues that may arise.

Date:  Thursday, April 14, 2011

Time:  12:00pm ET / 11:00am CT / 9:00am PT

Speakers:  Sara A. Begley and Patrick W. Ritchey

Who Should Attend:  All levels of management, from human resources professionals to CEOs and general counsel

CLE:  Presumptively approved for CLE credits in CA, IL, NJ, NY, PA – 1.5 substantive; VA credit pending

Additional Details:  A meal will be provided. The seminars are complimentary; space is limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Business or business casual attire is suggested.

RSVP by April 11.

EUROPEAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Under the patronage of its "Human Resources " committee and in collaboration with Reed Smith, invite you to a breakfast seminar on the following hot topic:

Optimize your chances before employment tribunals!

Thursday March 3rd, 2011
From 9:00 am to 10:30 am
Reception from 8:30 am

Venue: Reed Smith
42 Avenue Raymond Poincaré - 75116 Paris
Metro station : Trocadéro

With the special participation of:

• Patrick K. PLACKTOR – Judge at the Paris Labour Court – “executive” section
• Nicolas SAUVAGE – Partner, Reed Smith, specialist in Employment Law
   

Benefits of diversity and costs of discrimination have a direct financial impact on companies, beyond human and social fields.

The consequences of this impact are significant: they may be negative (litigation and related costs, penalty for breach of duties/quotas) or positive (aid for the hiring of various categories of people, increased productivity and economic benefits linked with HR impacts).

This conference aims at identifying the issues, risks and good practices to be implemented in order to increase company performance and profits.

With a special focus on the main concerns of Human Resources Directors and Diversity managers.

PROGRAM :

What are employers’ obligations in terms of non-discrimination and diversity issues ? What are the risks?

• What are the new legislations and case law?
• What happens in other countries?
• How to avoid the windfall effect?
• How to convince CFOs that diversity increases profits?

WITH THE SPECIAL PARTICIPATION OF :

Didier Dumont, Secretary General of Goodwill Management, author of the renown study : “Diversité du capital humain et performance économique de l’entreprise”, first study proving the evidence of economic benefits of diversity on businesses.

Bruce Roch, Director of Innovation and Diversity at Adecco France, who will testify of experiences and actual results on companies.

Nicolas C. Sauvage, Partner at Reed Smith LLP, will present legal aspects promoting diversity and penalizing discrimination and back this up with crucial experiences of day-to-day situations.

WHEN:

Friday, January 28, 2011
Starting from 8:30 am (welcome reception)
Beginning of the conference 9:00 am until 12:00 pm

ADDRESS: 
CENTRE DES VICTOIRES
52, rue de la victoire
75009 PARIS

Attendees will pay a limited fee (150€) to attend the whole morning conference.

For more information, or to register for this event, please contact:

Michaël Hayat
Tel : + 33 1.44.30.49.64
Email:  mhayat@syntec-numerique.fr