Employment & Labor Insider

EEOC allegations ring true. Continue Reading ›

A true story, somewhere. Continue Reading ›

An intimate look. Continue Reading ›

Don't quit your current job! Continue Reading ›

Here are the four things the employer did right. Continue Reading ›

Today is HR Professionals Day, an annual celebration that recognizes the hard work of Human Resource personnel and highlights the unique challenges they face. HR departments are often maligned, but they ensure that operations run smoothly and in accordance with the laws that govern the workplace. They also ensure that employees and managers have the support they need. Continue Reading ›

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article initially appeared in HR Daily Advisor. Continue Reading ›

With some help from Charles Dickens. Continue Reading ›

You won't want to miss this!!! Continue Reading ›

Maybe don’t get a drink with your competitor. Continue Reading ›

The pandemic altered some employment norms. Continue Reading ›

What do the experts have to say? Continue Reading ›

The absence of job dissatisfaction is not job satisfaction. Continue Reading ›

You won't go wrong. Continue Reading ›

The data are not as supportive as claimed. Continue Reading ›

Inquiring minds want to know! Continue Reading ›

Not if I have anything to say about it. Continue Reading ›

You DO want to be "with it," don't you? Continue Reading ›

Idle speculation as employers await the actual guidance. Continue Reading ›

And I'm not even talking about sexual harassment. Continue Reading ›

That which is old is new again. Continue Reading ›

Not a word about this week's goings on. I promise! Continue Reading ›

Pee-yew. Continue Reading ›

A resume liar, or a candidate who gives you the hard truth? Continue Reading ›

2019 ends with a bang. Continue Reading ›

HR people, you know what I'm talking about. Continue Reading ›

Here's how to keep it under control. Continue Reading ›

It's easier to lose your job if your replacement is a robot. Continue Reading ›

Avoid a seasonal faux pas! Continue Reading ›

Literally. Continue Reading ›

Apply it to everybody, and you've got something. Continue Reading ›

And happy St. Patrick's Day weekend! Continue Reading ›

A fun way to while away your time until the weekend officially arrives. Continue Reading ›

Employer of the month. Continue Reading ›

No. Heck, no. Continue Reading ›

How dare they defend themselves! Continue Reading ›

If the "humble boss" is best, who's the worst? Continue Reading ›

Only in America. Continue Reading ›

And the ex-employee gets a jury trial. Continue Reading ›

I'm don't quite agree with the legal analysis, but I agree with the principle. Continue Reading ›

Probably. Continue Reading ›

"Zero tolerance" is too blunt an instrument, and it may even increase bad behavior. Continue Reading ›

Afraid that your dress code will cause your employees to up and quit? Gentle Reader, you've come to the right place. Continue Reading ›

According to a very scientific survey. Continue Reading ›

Employees talk about why they were fired. Here are the parts they may have left out. Continue Reading ›

So, this is why I'm not a millionaire! Continue Reading ›

Here are five hot issues that employers ignore at their peril. Continue Reading ›

Sheesh. Continue Reading ›

That was fast. Continue Reading ›

Why not? Continue Reading ›

Have I missed any? Continue Reading ›

Workplace romance in the #MeToo era is so complicated. Continue Reading ›

Here are 10 questions to help you think it through. Continue Reading ›

This bustin' on HR is gettin' me down, You got to quit kickin' HR around.
 Continue Reading ›

Words fail me. Let’s just say that I hope he is sincere about getting the help he needs to turn his life around.

Which, among other things, should include trying to make some form of restitution to his alleged victims. (None of this ridiculous “atonement by fighting the NRA.”)

There are more Weinstein stories than I can link to, but here are the two original sources: The article by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey in The New York Times is here, and Ronan Farrow’s excellent and very disturbing article in The New Yorker is here.

Mr. Weinstein, through a spokesperson, has denied engaging in any non-consensual sexual relations or retaliating against anyone who refused his advances. The full denial is in the video, below.

Here are my eight takes from an employment law and Human Resources perspective:

No. 1: “Quid pro quo” harassment is just a fancy word for extortion — where the prize is sex, instead of money or property. When an employer threatens to terminate (or otherwise punish) an employee for refusing sexual advances, or promises to hire (or otherwise reward) her for participating, then that is extortion. (I’m using “she” and “her” for convenience, but men can be victims, too.) In the ordinary employment context, an employer is strictly (automatically) liable if a supervisor or manager engages in this type of harassment. Continue Reading ›

Must-see ConstangyTV! The September edition of ConstangyTV’s “Close-Up on Workplace Law” is on YouTube, and you will not want to miss it. Host Leigh Tyson talks with Jon Yarbrough about social media in the workplace, including social media horror stories and what employers can do about them, the restrictions that have been imposed on social media policies by the National Labor Relations Board, and how that might change now that we have a Republican majority on the Board. To save you a long, grueling trip to our YouTube site, here it is:

Trump’s 8 zillionth* travel ban: what employers need to know. President Trump issued a new travel ban “proclamation” on Sunday, and the excellent Will Krasnow of our Boston Office has read it and explains it all for us in this Immigration Dispatch.

*I might be exaggerating. Continue Reading ›

At a client seminar that my office presented during the very contentious 2016 campaign season, my law partner John Doyle delivered an introductory disclaimer. Although I may not have his words verbatim, I will never forget the message, which was as follows:

The only thing we’re partisan about is employers. That’s it.

It was a great way to dispel the perception that we were being politically partisan while we had to discuss the positive and negative impacts of the candidates’ proposals on employment law issues.

This morning, I got a comment from the plaintiff in an age discrimination lawsuit that I referenced last year, based on an article that had appeared in The Washington Post. Here’s what the plaintiff, Dale Kleber, said to me:

Well, Robin, I was surprised that although you have formal legal training, the article you wrote contains so many factual assumptions that simply are false. I suspect that your firm primarily represents defendant employers and your “analysis” is tainted with the bias of economic self-interest. In the near future, I expect to obtain an objective review of my case from the the Seventh Circuit. Your article, devoid as it is of even the most basic factual or legal analysis is simply an editorial masquerading as a legal newsletter. But perhaps that is what your clients want to hear.

I admit I did not think Mr. Kleber was a victim of age discrimination based on the information in the WaPo article, and I admit that I said so. Reading between the lines on his comment, it appeared to me that he had lost his case (since he was hoping to be vindicated on appeal), but I read the court filings today and it’s more complicated than that. (I’ll have a separate blog post about the merits of Mr. Kleber’s lawsuit, which I think is pretty interesting.)

As far as writing “editorials” on this blog, I plead guilty. This ain’t, after all, The New York Times.

I also admit that I and my firm represent employers, and that we are always on the employers’ side.

But what I’d really like to talk about is what it means to be “on the employers’ side,” or, as John says, “partisan” on behalf of employers. Continue Reading ›