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Mark J. Girouard News Archive

Posted September 3, 2026

Social Media is Emerging as the Next Frontier for Job Ads

In the News Social media is fast becoming the go-to platform for recruiting top talent. To make the shift easier and more cost-effective, more employers are turning to specialized firms to handle job postings on their behalf. But convenience has …

Posted June 6, 2022

Washington State Jumps on the Pay Transparency Bandwagon

A recent amendment to Washington law will require employers to disclose information about pay and other benefits in postings for jobs in the state. This new affirmative disclosure requirement, which applies to employers with 15 or more employees, becomes effective on January 1, 2023.

Posted November 16, 2021 with Tags

Remote Employees and Colorado Pay Disclosure Requirements

Over the last few years, employers across the United States have become accustomed to dealing with a patchwork of state pay equity requirements, including some that give employees the right to request and openly discuss and disclose their wages. A handful of states and municipalities have gone farther, enacting pay transparency schemes under which employers must affirmatively disclose the pay ranges for a position. States that impose some kind of pay transparency requirement include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island, Washington. These states, and others, have recently adopted new or revised pay equity statutes imposing additional requirements upon employers.

Posted May 24, 2021 with Tags

Illinois Adopts New Equal Pay Requirements

Many states across the country have adopted new or revised equal pay laws in an effort to address pay inequities in the workplace. Illinois joined that list with March 22, 2021 amendments to the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 and Illinois Business Corporation Act, which took immediate effect. The amendments require employers to assemble, submit, and, in some cases, even publish demographic and pay equity data. 

Posted March 3, 2021 with Tags

EEOC and DFEH Using EEO-1 Pay Data to Find Intersectional or Gender-Plus Claims

Employers that provided EEO-1 Component Two pay data to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or are currently preparing to provide data to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) as part of California’s new pay data reporting requirement, are doubtless interested in learning how the agencies will use the data. One likely answer is that the EEOC and DFEH will use employer’s data to identify instances of “intersectional” pay discrimination. That is, claims of pay discrimination that involve the combination of two or more protected classes (such as race and gender), which are also commonly referred to as “gender-plus” claims (e.g., gender-plus-race).

Posted February 26, 2021 with Tags ,

FAQs for Employers: Minneapolis’ Right to Recall Ordinance

Minneapolis employers in the hospitality industry will likely soon have to contend with a new set of worker protection laws. The Minneapolis City Council is currently considering a citywide Hospitality Worker Right to Recall Ordinance, which would require employers to rehire workers previously terminated due to the Coronavirus pandemic. If adopted, the Ordinance will go into effect on May 1, 2021. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Legislature is considering a similar right to recall law, which would apply statewide to a larger group of employers.

Posted June 4, 2020 with Tags ,

MN Supreme Court Upholds “Severe or Pervasive” Standard in Sexual Harassment Claims

On Wednesday, June 5, 2020, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Kenneh vs. Homeward Bound, Inc., upholding the “severe or pervasive” standard applied to sexual harassment claims due to hostile work environment under the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA). The standard, adopted from parallel federal Title VII litigation, has been applied to hostile work environment claims under the MHRA for over 30 years. It confines actionable sexual harassment to severe (meaning bad) or pervasive (meaning frequent) conduct that sufficiently alters the conditions of employment.

Posted April 7, 2020 with Tags , , ,

Amidst Increased Video Interviews, Employers Must Keep Law in Mind

Since shelter-in-place and self-isolation orders have become the norm around the country, more employers are utilizing video interview tools in lieu of interviewing candidates in person. These tools allow HR and hiring teams to continue to assess talent with little interruption. But Nilan Johnson Lewis labor and employment attorney Mark Girouard urges companies to keep certain legal requirements in mind before turning on the cameras.

Posted March 2, 2020 with Tags

Charting a Safe Course into Equal Pay “Safe Harbors”

The rising tide of state pay equity legislation shows no sign of abating, with several new laws set to become effective in 2020 and 2021. Many of these laws differ from the federal Equal Pay Act by defining comparable work more broadly, limiting the factors on which employers can rely to justify pay disparities, and imposing additional penalties. A handful of the laws also attempt to balance these new burdens on employers by creating “safe harbors” for those who proactively assess and address their pay gaps.

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