The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires employers to first inform applicants and employees about the intent to obtain and use a background check to make employment-related decisions before the employers are permitted to actually get the background check. But what the law does not do is provide employers with a template disclosure or any concrete guidance on what the disclosure should say.
Now What?
Fairly soon, an estimated 150,000 businesses in the United States will receive some bad news: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will not be considering their H-1B petitions for skilled foreign workers. The petitions will be rejected without any analysis as to their merits. Yet these businesses with a clear need for temporary help will have to explore other ways to keep their prospective or current employee working for their company, or face the possibility that the foreign worker may be forced to return home.
The use of business email accounts and digital devices for personal communications can be risky for both employers and employees. However, employees of all levels may be commingling corporate communications with their personal information, according to new research.
Looking at a Case in Florida
In February of this year, a Florida appeals court upheld a decision by Gov. Rick Scott's administration that Uber drivers are independent contractors and not employees. In terms of the law, the decision was hardly revolutionary. It did, however, highlight the importance of properly classifying workers. Indeed, failure to properly classify workers can have staggering financial consequences for a business that operates on a model that relies heavily on a large number of independent contractors.
Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, who was confirmed by the Senate late last month, is a veteran government official who is set to hit the ground the running. What direction can labor and employment attorneys expect him to take the agency charged with enforcing many of the nation's workplace laws, and what are issues to watch in the early days?
At the end of last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for the first time in 14 years updated its Guidance on national origin discrimination. The Guidance serves as a road map for employers on how the EEOC will investigate national origin discrimination charges. As a result, employers are wise to review the new Guidance to ensure that their anti-discrimination policies can withstand an EEOC investigation.
How to Investigate
When suspicions of employee data theft arise, it is important to engage a computer forensics expert to perform a theft-of-IP analysis in order to preserve electronic data and uncover important evidence.
The Third Circuit in Capps gave employers who purport to terminate employees because they are misusing their FMLA leave an ironclad defense. Here's a look at the case.
The Department of the Treasury has issued final regulations addressing deferred compensation and safe harbor planning utilizing §§ 409A(d)(1), 457(e)11 and 31.3121(v)(2). These regulations set forth how plan sponsors can provide death benefits on a permissibly selective basis.
Over the course of the past few months (and prior to the inauguration of President Trump), the Social Security Administration (SSA) proposed and finalized…
