Washington Governor Jay Inslee has signed two new laws intended to encourage public disclosure and discussion of sexual harassment in the workplace. Both of these laws take effect on June 7, 2018. #1: Substitute Senate Bill 6313 Substitute Senate Bill 6313 makes an employment agreement void and unenforceable if it requires an…
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Washington’s new “ban the box” law, which takes effect June 7, 2018, prohibits private employers from asking about criminal history before deciding whether an applicant meets the basic criteria for the position. It also prohibits job ads that automatically exclude people with criminal histories from applying (e.g., by saying “no felons” or “no criminal…
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The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has posted more settlements online, after employers with federal contracts agreed to settle allegations of discrimination in pay and hiring. The OFCCP had conducted affirmative action audits of the contractors. The companies below denied the agency’s allegations but eventually agreed to pay significant sums…
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Question: We have an anti-harassment policy and complaint process in our employee handbook. We also conduct annual training for employees. What else should we be doing to prevent workplace harassment?
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We just lost one of our biggest customers and have decided we need to lay off several employees from multiple departments. It turns out that all of the selected employees are over 40. Do we face potential liability?
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The National Labor Relations Board should dismiss a Google software engineer’s complaint that he was illegally fired for circulating an anti-diversity memo, according to an official opinion from a staff attorney in the Division of Advice for the Board’s Office of the General Counsel. You may recall that in August 2017, the media was…
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Question: We just received an application from a candidate who’s clearly qualified, but we know he sued his last employer for discrimination and we’d rather not hire someone who goes around suing people. Can we get in trouble for rejecting him?
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The Question: One of our employees is saying his coworkers are using very obscene racial slurs in casual conversation. We trust our supervisors and they’ve said they can’t imagine this is actually happening. What should we do?
Read More…The Question: A manager told me that two female employees raised concerns about a male employee who was being “creepy”; they said he stood too close to them and made them feel uncomfortable. The manager asked them to report it to HR, but they haven’t come to see me. It doesn’t seem like I have enough to launch a formal investigation. What can I do in this situation?
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The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) says it won’t begin enforcing Oregon’s new prohibition on asking workers about their wage history until January 1, 2019, even though it officially takes effect on October 6, 2017.
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