Recognizing that severance agreements are becoming more and more prevailant in the down economy, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) yesterday issued a new technical assistance document titled Understanding Waivers of Discrimination Claims in Employee Severance Agreements (click on the title to access the document). The new document is intended to help both employers and employees navigate
Major Budget Increases for Federal Labor and Employment Enforcment Agencies
The Obama Administration has released its fiscal year 2010 budget request. Among the items are several increases for the federal agencies that oversee labor and employment matters. Here are some highlights:
- $104.5 billion to the Department of Labor, an increase of 10 percent, to increase its staff and enforcement activity.
- $283 million for the National
EEOC Issues Swine Flu Guidance
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued two helpful resources for employers coping with the Swine Flu outbreak. First, the Commission has issued this technical assistance document on ADA-Compliant Employer Preparedness For the H1N1 Flu Virus. It answers basic questions about workplace preparation strategies for the 2009 H1N1 flu virus (swine flu) that are
Age Discrimination Claims on the Rise
According to the Wall Street Journal, discrimination filings with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) went up 15 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, and age discrimination suits in particular showed a dramatic 29 percent increase over the previous year. Click here to read the WSJ Article.
The conventional wisdom is that discrimination claims go
EEOC Proposes Regulations for Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
Today the EEOC published its proposed regulations on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). Click here to download the proposed regulations. Interested members of the public have 60 days (or until May 1, 2009) to comment on the new regs.
GINA, passed by Congress last year, prohibits the improper use of genetic information in
Senate Passes Lilly Ledbetter Bill 61-36
The Senate voted 61-36 yesterday to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which is intended to overturn a U.S. Supreme Court decision that limited the time frame for bringing pay discrimination claims. The bill now will have to be reconciled with the House’s version of the bill (H.R. 11), approved on a 247-171 vote Jan.
Ledbetter, Fair Pay Acts Pass House
There was a lot of fairness on Capitol Hill last week: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act both passed the House of Representatives on Friday, January 9, 2009. For those of you keeping score at home, the Ledbetter Act passed 247-171, and the Paycheck Fairness Act passed 256-163. Both bills will proceed
EEOC Deadlocks Over ADA Amendments Act Rules
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) split yesterday over whether to approve a notice of proposed rulemaking on the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA). The commissioners voted 2-2 on whether to approve a set of proposed rules that had been drafted by EEOC’s Office of Legal Counsel. Under the EEOC’s rules, a tie vote is the
Salvation Army Settles “English Only” Lawsuit with EEOC
A Massachusetts federal court last week approved a consent decree settlement of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit against the Salvation Army over the firing of two Spanish-speaking employees who failed to adhere to the employer’s "English only" policy. To read the consent decree in that case, click here.
In that suit, the EEOC had
Employer Violated Title VII by Terminating Employee for Undergoing In-Vitro Fertilization
In the first case of its kind before a federal circuit court, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held recently that an employer violated Title VII for terminating a female employee who underwent in vitro fertilization treatments. To read the opinion in Hall v. Nalco Company, click here.
The employer terminated the employee citing “absenteeism—infertility treatments.”