This installment of our ongoing series prognosticating about the new Presidential administration focuses on the regulatory environment employers may face. President-elect Trump has promised to revoke a number of the more employee-friendly measures that the Obama Administration has passed over the previous eight years. Additionally, Ivanka Trump, who was influential throughout her father’s campaign, has reiterated her intention to fight for equal pay for women and family leave policies.
Continue Reading What Employers May Expect with Trump in Office
City of Philadelphia Amendments to Ban-The-Box Legislation Take Effect This Week
On December 15, 2015, Philadelphia’s former Mayor, Michael Nutter, signed off on an amendment (“the Amendment”) to the Fair Criminal Record Screenings Standards Ordinance (“the Ordinance”). The Amendment, which tightens the already-stringent regulations on Philadelphia employers, becomes effective this Wednesday, March 16, 2016. The Amendment does not affect employers’ right to engage in any inquiries or adverse actions that are specifically authorized or mandated by any other applicable law or regulation.
The Expansion of the Ordinance
The Amendment, which takes the city’s stance on “banning the box” one step farther, prohibits employers from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal conviction history until after a conditional offer of employment has been made. Moreover, the Amendment expands the Ordinance’s reach, banning questions regarding an applicant’s willingness to eventually submit to a background check and emphasizing that any prohibited application inquiries are unlawful, even if placed alongside a disclaimer that certain applicants need not answer the question.
Even more onerously, the Amendment places new regulations on employers’ internal hiring policies and practices. It is now unlawful for an employer to maintain or adopt any policy automatically excluding an applicant with a criminal conviction from a class of jobs. Employers may only reject prospective employees based on a criminal record if the record includes a conviction that “bears such relationship to the employment sought that the employer may reasonably conclude that the applicant would present an unacceptable risk to the operation of the business or to co-workers or customers, and that exclusion of the applicant is compelled by business necessity.”
Continue Reading City of Philadelphia Amendments to Ban-The-Box Legislation Take Effect This Week
Judge Puts Brady Back in the Game
New England Patriots’ fans can thank U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman if and when they see NFL quarterback Tom Brady suiting up next Thursday for the Patriots’ season opener. Judge Berman vacated Brady’s four-game suspension for his alleged role in the 2015 AFC Championship Game’s Deflategate scandal. In July, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell slapped Brady with the suspension pursuant to the League’s collectively bargained arbitration process. Goodell concluded that Brady not only knew he was playing with non-regulation, deflated footballs, but that he also approved the tampering of the footballs and subsequently destroyed evidence of his participation in the incident. Despite these findings, Judge Berman put Brady back in the game, lifting the suspension on the basis that the NFL deprived Brady of procedural due process during the arbitration proceedings.
Judicial review of arbitration awards is extraordinarily limited. However, courts will reverse decisions where the employer violated fundamental requisites of “fairness” and “due process.” Judge Berman’s 40-page opinion reads as a how-to manual for employers and arbitrators to ensure that the substance of the claims, rather than procedural technicalities, determines the outcome of the litigation.
Continue Reading Judge Puts Brady Back in the Game
‘School’s Out!’ Means More Free Time for Kids, But None for Working Parents. Here is Help for Employers Managing the Fallout.
As our nation’s built-in babysitters close shop for the next three months, the bulk of our nation’s workforce braces for the barrage of new summer stressors, including: the uncertain reliability of teenage babysitters needed to cover 7-8 extra childcare hours per day; the effective imposition of second full-time job duties at home, with predictably unpredictable hours; and, for many, the summertime onset of “work-life imbalance malaise.”
These summertime stressors also cause angst for employers. Employees’ additional responsibilities at home invariably mean spikes in last-minute employee requests for “emergency” sick leave, attempts to “take off” early, and other impromptu absenteeism issues. All this can be incredibly disruptive to an employer’s normal business operations. Here are three tips to help maximize a smoother summer transition in your workplace:Continue Reading ‘School’s Out!’ Means More Free Time for Kids, But None for Working Parents. Here is Help for Employers Managing the Fallout.