Florida State Senator Seeks Prohibition On Checking Job Applicants’ Criminal Records

If it is approved in the next Florida legislative session, a proposed new state law would prohibit private employers from inquiring into, or considering, a job applicant’s criminal history on an initial employment application. Such screenings would only be allowed after the employer has determined that a job applicant meets the minimum requirements to qualify…

EEOC Issues New Guidances On Disability Discrimination At The Workplace

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued four revised guidance documents regarding protection against disability discrimination, pursuant to the goal of the agency’s Strategic Plan to provide up-to-date guidance on the requirements of antidiscrimination laws. The documents address how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to job applicants and existing employees with…

EEOC Issues Updated Enforcement Guidance On Pregnancy Discrimination

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a new Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues, along with a question and answer document about the guidance, and a Fact Sheet for Small Businesses. They are all available free online at eeoc.gov. (See URLs below). This is the first comprehensive update of the…

Half A Million U.S. Employers Now Using E-Verify To Check Job Applicants’ Status

More than 500,000 employers now use E-Verify in about 1.5-million workplaces, the federal government’s free online service that allows United States employers to confirm their new employees’ eligibility to work in this country. U.S. law requires companies to employ only individuals who may legally work in the United States – either U.S. citizens or foreign…

Supreme Court Decides That End-Of-Shift Anti-Theft Employee Screenings Are Not Compensable Work Time Under The FLSA

The U.S. Supreme Court has held unanimously that hourly-paid employees don’t have to be paid for the time that they spend passing through after-work security screenings, reversing a Ninth Circuit ruling in favor of former employees of an Amazon.com warehouse against a staffing agency. The Court handed a victory to employers over employee pay, ruling…

Federal Appeals Court Protects Rights Of Lactating Employees In The Workplace

In a precedent-setting decision that should be of interest all private sector employers, a federal appeals court has ruled that discharging a female employee because she is lactating or expressing breast milk in the workplace constitutes sex discrimination in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), on behalf of employee Donnicia…