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Joseph G. Schmitt News Archive

Newsroom image for the post Pay Equity Analyses in the Land of Zoom

Posted November 16, 2021 with Tags

Pay Equity Analyses in the Land of Zoom

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many areas of the employment landscape. Job descriptions, essential functions, ADA accommodations, undue hardship, and Title VII religious accommodations are all areas that have been substantially impacted by the virtual work environment and the availability of mechanisms such as Zoom to substitute for physical attendance. Pay equity analyses are just the latest area to be impacted by the virtual environment. Employers may need to rethink how they conduct their pay equity analyses going forward.

Newsroom image for the post Biden Administration Pushes New Federal Equal Pay Requirements

Posted May 24, 2021 with Tags

Biden Administration Pushes New Federal Equal Pay Requirements

During the Trump Administration, equal pay advocates focused their attention on legislative and regulatory changes at the state and local levels. These advocates believed change was impossible at the federal level. Still, they successfully convinced states to revise their equal pay statutes and enhance state-level protections against pay inequities. However, with the changing of the White House, pay equity advocates have refocused their attention back on the federal government.

Newsroom image for the post Pay Equity Advocates Leverage Shareholder Derivative Lawsuits To Drive Pay Equity Efforts

Posted April 5, 2021 with Tags , ,

Pay Equity Advocates Leverage Shareholder Derivative Lawsuits To Drive Pay Equity Efforts

Pay equity advocates have used a variety of mechanisms to pressure employers to prioritize pay equity in the workplace. These efforts include shareholder resolutions regarding pay equity, threats of divestiture, and public campaigns against particular employers. Recently, pay equity advocates have unveiled a new tactic to enhance pressure on public corporations to prioritize pay equity: failure to comply with their own pay equity promises. These lawsuits signal a new front in the activist war against perceived pay inequities.

Newsroom image for the post FAQs for Employers: Minneapolis’ Right to Recall Ordinance

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 October 21, 2020 with Tags ,

Politics in the Workplace: When Political Speech Goes Against Employer Policies

With the presidential election looming, discussions about politics are happening in the workplace now more than ever. In the current political environment, these conversations may be disruptive and may not align with Equal Employment Opportunity and Harassment-Free Workplace Policies, diversity and inclusion goals, and organizational brands. This means that HR professionals and other supervisors walk a very fine line as they draw distinctions between what violates or contradicts employment policies versus free speech.

Newsroom image for the post Pay Equity Advocacy Groups Target Employer Brand & Morale

Posted July 14, 2020 with Tags

Pay Equity Advocacy Groups Target Employer Brand & Morale

Pay inequities can create government regulatory problems with the EEOC and OFCCP, for example, and can also present litigation risks in the form of government lawsuits or private class actions. But pay equity issues also can result in brand and morale challenges that may ultimately be more significant than those in the regulatory and litigation contexts. Because of new, creative tactics from advocacy groups, as well as changes in the societal and media environments, employers should place greater focus on the brand and morale aspects of pay equity.

Newsroom image for the post Minnesota Restaurateurs: 5 Steps to Take Now to Avoid a Tip-Pooling Class-Action Lawsuit

Posted March 10, 2020

Minnesota Restaurateurs: 5 Steps to Take Now to Avoid a Tip-Pooling Class-Action Lawsuit

Plaintiffs’ lawyers are exploiting Minnesota’s confusing tip-pooling laws to bring class-action lawsuits against restaurateurs. These cases entail substantial costs, both in defending them and in potential damages. Thankfully, restaurants can take proactive steps to address possible compliance issues to limit potential liability or to avoid a lawsuit altogether. Here are five actions restaurants can take now.

Newsroom image for the post Minnesota Restaurateurs: Fix Your Tip Pools Before You’re Hit with a Tip-Pooling Class Action Lawsuit

Posted March 4, 2020 with Tags , , ,

Minnesota Restaurateurs: Fix Your Tip Pools Before You’re Hit with a Tip-Pooling Class Action Lawsuit

Restaurants are getting hit with tip-pooling class action lawsuits. Now is the time to audit your practices, or, at the very least, review your tip pooling policies. This is especially important for Minnesota restaurateurs, as they face the difficult challenge of complying with the state’s unique tip-pooling statute—which is unlike federal laws and those of other states. Restaurants can make specific changes now to meet the law’s requirements and avoid class action litigation.

Posted October 4, 2019

EEOC Finds Age-Restricted Advertisements Violate ADEA

Approximately two years ago, a number of employers received charges of discrimination alleging that they discriminated against applicants by restricting the recipients of employment advertisements on Facebook. The EEOC just found reasonable cause on the first seven such charges; and more probable cause determinations seem likely in the near future. Employers who have not yet been targeted should take steps now to prepare.

Posted July 11, 2019

Minnesota DOLI Updates FAQs and Wage Theft Notice Example

Employers are now required to comply with the civil provisions of Minnesota’s new Wage Theft Statute, which went into effect last week on July 1. This week, the Minnesota Department of Labor & Industry (DOLI) updated its Wage Theft Q&A, which has now grown to 45 questions, and its Employee Wage Notice example.

Posted June 25, 2019

Minnesota DOLI Releases FAQ and Wage Notice Example for New Wage Theft Law

Employers face a tight deadline of July 1 to comply with the civil provisions of Minnesota’s new Wage Theft Statute. Late last week, the Minnesota Department of Labor & Industry (DOLI) issued a Wage Theft Q&A and an Employee Wage Notice example. We’ve summarized the highlights of the Q&A and the Employee Wage Notice example.

Newsroom image for the post AI & “Algorithmic Bias” in Hiring

Posted June 11, 2019 with Tags , ,

AI & “Algorithmic Bias” in Hiring

As this Harvard Business Review article thoughtfully explores, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to decrease gender bias in hiring if it is properly trained and used...or to replicate existing workplace biases if it is not. With more employers using AI and other big data solutions in hiring, lawmakers and enforcement agencies, as well as plaintiffs' law firms, are increasingly focused on issues of “algorithmic bias.”

Posted May 28, 2019

Home Health Care Misclassification Lawsuits Rising

Plaintiffs’ wage-and-hour class action lawyers are constantly looking for new groups of employees whom they can claim are inappropriately classified as exempt. In previous decades, plaintiffs’ lawyers focused on mortgage adjusters, truck drivers, and assistant store managers. In 2019, plaintiffs’ lawyers are directing their attention to another group of employees: home health clinicians.

Posted May 21, 2019

Tech Support Independent Contractor Class Claims Climbing

Wage-and-hour class litigation tends to come in waves. In 2019, we are seeing another wave gather on the horizon: misclassification collective actions alleging that companies have improperly classified at-the-elbow (“ATE”) support workers as contractors and thus denied them the overtime required under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and parallel state laws.

Posted May 15, 2019 with Tags

Wave of Equal Pay Lawsuits Continues to Build

Equal pay issues are receiving a great deal of attention in the media, at regulatory agencies, and in various state legislatures. Given all this attention, it is unsurprising plaintiffs’ law firms have been quick to jump on the equal pay bandwagon. Experienced plaintiffs’ class action firms have launched a variety of equal pay class or collective actions against employers. And those law firms have deployed a sophisticated array of tools to prosecute those claims.

Newsroom image for the post Workplace Biometrics Put to the Test

Posted April 10, 2019

Workplace Biometrics Put to the Test

More than 10 years ago, the Illinois State Legislature passed the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which requires private sector companies to gain authorization before collecting employees’ biometric data, such as fingerprints, iris scans, voiceprints and facial recognition. While the …

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