The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) was extremely busy with its announcements on August 28, 2018. Along with issuing 6 opinion letters, a directive, and launching a new web page (all of which I previously wrote about), it also announced the creation of not one, but two new websites, as well as the new Office
OFCCP Increases Transparency In New Directive Regarding Standard Procedure for Compliance Evaluation
For those of you who are federal contractors, and have had the pleasure of being audited by the U.D. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), you know how close to the vest the OFCCP has historically kept their formulas, pay analysis groupings theories, and statistical modeling theories/backup, making early settlement
Eighth Circuit Dismisses Employee’s Retaliation Claim After Changing Jobs Within Same Employer
Many laws governing employment contain anti-retaliation prohibitions. Indeed, many claims, demands and lawsuits are accompanied by retaliation allegations. For example, the Minneapolis and St. Paul paid sick leave ordinances both make it unlawful for an employer to take adverse employment actions against an employee for requesting to use earned paid sick leave hours. The Equal
Overtime Can Be an “Essential Function” of a Position – Why Your Job Descriptions Are Important
When is the last time you seriously worked on updating your job descriptions…with input from the hiring manager for that job? On May 11, 2018, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (this includes Minnesota), in Faidley v. United Parcel Service of America, Inc., held that the employer, United Parcel Service (UPS), was not required
The Question Employers Love and Applicants Hate: “How Much Are You Currently Making?”
In Minnesota, it is still lawful to ask job applicants about their pay and benefit history. However, a number of states and cities are moving toward banning such practice. Thus, Minnesota employers with other locations should be mindful of these changing laws. The idea is that by doing so, the gender and minority job gap
U.S. DOL Launches New Website To Make It Easy For Employees To Determine If They Have An “Unfairness-On-The-Job Problem” and File A Complaint Electronically
As a result of President Obama’s White House Summit on Worker Voice, on October 28, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Blog announced its new beta website – Worker.gov. This website is, according to the DOL, designed to provide “easy-to-access” solutions for employees who need answers “fast”. The DOL admits that “Even
Massachusetts Passes New Pay Equity Act – Employers Cannot Ask Applicants About Wage History
Minnesota employers with a location in Massachusetts should take note that Massachusetts passed a new Pay Equity Act yesterday, which, among other things, makes it unlawful to ask applicants about their salary history effective January 1, 2018. Specifically, the Pay Equity Act provides:
“(c) It shall be an unlawful practice for an employer to:
(1)
Federal Contractors With More Than 100 Employees: EEOC Revises Proposal For EEO-1 Pay Data Collection – Moving Due Date to March 2018 to Allow Use of W-2 Pay Reports
As I wrote about in April, on February 1, 2016, the EEOC proposed revisions to add wage and hour information to employers’ yearly EEO-1 report. The EEO-1 report is required by the EEOC, pursuant to its authority in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), and requests submission of information aimed
Minneapolis Contractors – Be Ready to Prove Your Good Faith Efforts at Meeting Minneapolis’ Construction Workforce Goals
In its June 21, 2016, Compliance Tips, the City of Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights Contract Compliance Division offered some tips for how a contractor can demonstrate good faith efforts at meeting the City’s workforce goals. Given the recent notice of on-site “reviews” that I blogged about earlier, this is no surprise. Contractors should expect
Minneapolis Contractors – Be Prepared for On-Site Compliance “Reviews” This Summer!
Contractors doing business in Minneapolis should be aware that the City will be conducting on-site “reviews” of the general contractor for City projects. Don’t get fooled that this is a friendly visit just because you are called in advance to schedule a time to meet. This “review” is an audit or investigation or whatever you