labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Employers need to be more vigilant in hiring and promotions than ever before. That’s because a new EEOC task force has increased enforcement actions against employers who lack diversity in their workforce, calling such situations “systemic discrimination.” The agency may initiate investigations, even in the absence of an employee complaint.

Similar efforts against federal contractors have been introduced by the OFCCP or Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

To cite just two examples, the EEOC recently announced a $2 million settlement with Les Schwab Tire Centers in a sex discrimination case. The company was accused of not hiring qualified females for its auto care stores in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Montana and Utah since 2004.

In a separate case, Wal-Mart paid $11.7 million to settle a sex discrimination case involving applicants for warehouse jobs in the London, Kentucky distribution center. Hiring officials with the retail giant told female applicants that the positions were not suitable for women, and that most new hires (more…)

Oklahoma state contractors must use the federal E-Verify system to authenticate all new hires, despite a lawsuit from small business owners and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

However, another test of the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act in court is likely. The state Supreme Court may become involved to settle this dispute.

The 10^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the state can enforce this portion of the Oklahoma immigration law. The Chamber of Commerce argued that only the federal government has the right to control immigration, and therefore the state law was unconstitutional. This argument failed, which is no surprise considering that at least a dozen states have immigration laws.

Although all three judges of the appellate (more…)

The California Supreme Court recently ruled that employees are not entitled to unlimited time off to care for family members who are ill.

Under the California Kin Care law implemented in 1999, employers that offer accrued sick leave to workers must allow employees to use up to half their annual total to care for a spouse, child, parent or domestic partner who is ill.

Then as now, there is no requirement under the law that any California employer must provide sick leave to employees. However, for employers who choose to offer this benefit, the law addresses how it may be used.

In a rare unanimous ruling, the court found that the California Kin Care law applies only when a company awards a specific amount of sick leave, and that sick leave can be accrued.

The trend among some larger companies is to offer employees unlimited sick leave, especially under certain collective bargaining agreements.

Applauding the victory for California employers, attorney Anthony Oncidi noted that the law was a “perfect example” of a well-meaning law that resulted in abuse by employees. He noted that many California companies had actually reduced or eliminated sick leave policies, due to the previous restrictions.

In the test case involving telephone company AT&T, Inc., the employer provided up to 5 days of paid sick leave for a legitimate illness in any 7-day period. The sick leave period reset each time the employee returned to work, under a collective bargaining agreement. (more…)

The U.S. Department of Labor continues to work on new FMLA regulations related to leave for military families.

Under the bill approving the military budget, the National Defense Authorization Act, the president expanded FMLA to military families when the soldier is deployed in a foreign country.

The FMLA leave that was granted to members of the Reserve and National Guard under the 2009 regulations is now extended to families of armed services members who are on active duty in a foreign country.  

The new regulations are expected to be (more…)

A federal mandatory sick leave law may soon be passed. That law would require employers to give workers paid sick leave and to display a poster notifying employees of their right to sick leave.

The House Education and Labor Committee continues to consider provisions of HR 3991, the House Emergency Influenza Containment Act. The bill, introduced by Rep. George Miller of California, would require that employers provide 5 paid sick days to employees.

Part of the impetus for this action is the H1N1 influenza virus, also called the Swine Flu. Federal legislators have been considering a mandatory sick leave law for more than (more…)