Rojgar Job News

Like most of America, I spent a few hours this weekend seeing the new Avengers movie. (Don’t worry – no spoilers here in this post.) But it’s amazing how much the Marvel Universe has permeated our pop culture the last few years. So, it is with tongue firmly in cheek, when I use this post to talk about a presentation I’m doing tomorrow with my colleagues that plays off one such segment of these movies. Entitled, “Guardian of Your Own Galaxy: Making Informed Decisions on Hiring (Legally) and Sharing Information (When Appropriate)”, we’re going to talk a lot about how the hiring decisions of Tony Stark (i.e. Iron Man), Pepper Potts and how Stark Enterprises is run. Ok, one spoiler alert: No Tony Stark. Instead, we’re going to talk all things related to the hiring process: Background checks, interview questions, school-related employment history checks, registry checks, credit checks, ban the box, etc. We’re also going to talk about pers...

With the final few working days of the General Assembly session, we’re starting to see the outlines on bills that are pretenders vs. contenders. Yesterday, the House passed a contender on the subject of pay equity in a bi-partisan vote.  Unless the Senate decides not to bring up the matter (as it decided last year), employers should start preparing for its likely overall passage and implementation later this year. Four other states (including Massachusetts) have a bill of this type on the books. So what does House Bill 5386 say exactly? Well, less than it originally said. At the vote yesterday, the House passed “Amendment A” that eliminated some of the more controversial provisions of House Bill 5386. Ultimately, the bill would expand the prohibitions on pay secrecy now found in Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-40z, and prohibit an employer from: Inquiring or directing a third party to inquire about a prospective employee’s wage and salary history unless a prospecti...

Employment law lawyers are asked to review a lot of employment decisions. If we’re lucky, we’re brought in early in the process when the decision isn’t yet final and where our input can be useful. Other times though, we’re asked to opine on decisions after the fact. And truth is, it’s really pretty easy to Monday morning quarterback employment decisions.  Because there is sometimes something that wasn’t thought of before the decision was made. Often, it may not be important. The employer would have still made the same decision if something else was looked it. Had you known that there was a law protecting free speech in the workplace, would you still have disciplined the employee for putting up a post on Facebook about his working conditions? Many employers can’t afford an in-house attorney to bounce their decisions off. So, for those companies, here are five questions to get you thinking BEFORE you make an employment decision. ( Usual ...

You might think the title of this post is a bit self-serving or even self-promotional. Is this post just going to be a backhanded way to hire me, an employment law attorney? I want to dissuade you of the notion because that’s actually not my purpose.  (Really.) But over the years, I’ve had friends and colleagues struggle with finding the right lawyers for their business.  In some cases, my firm (Shipman & Goodwin LLP) might be a good fit for them. In other situations, whether because of conflicts or costs, we might not be. What I tell people is to take a step back and ask yourself a series of questions to start with.  I thought I’d share just a few of them to start the conversation: What are my needs?  This is perhaps the hardest, but most important question to ask yourself before you start.  If you don’t know what your needs are, it’s really tough to find a good match.  If a lawsuit is filed against you, then obviously you...

With Memorial Day coming up this weekend, it’s often a time (or it ought to be a time) to reflect on the sacrifices made by our military.  And at the same time, consider how we, as a society, treat our veterans. This issue was highlighted for me many years ago.  During a court proceeding in which fraudulent behavior of the witness was being discussed, the witness brought up his past military service, perhaps as a way to seek leniency from the court. To my surprise, rather than dismiss the comment as outright pandering to the court, the judge took a few minutes to express appreciation to the witness for his service and to note that the judicial system should be sensitive to the needs of veterans. The court didn’t rule in favor of the witness but I was still struck by the judge’s sensitivity.  It was a learning moment for me that all of us involved in the legal system ought to treat veterans in a similar way — with, at a minimum, recognition for...

Like a lot of people, I’ve got the summer bug and, given the choice between a walk outside and a blog post — well, you can figure out what has been winning. But I’ve got a few posts lined back up the next few weeks.  In the interim, I want to share with you one of the most meaningful and amazing speeches I’ve ever heard in person. It’s from last week when I attended the American Bar Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, where I serve as the State Delegate for Connecticut (and on the ABA Nominating Committee as well).  At that meeting, the ABA presented it’s ABA Medal (it’s highest honor for exceptionally distinguished service by a lawyer to the cause of American jurisprudence) to Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. During a 40 minute speech (which you really must listen to), he called on attendees to do four important tasks: Get close to people who live in the margins of so...

Today, Massachusetts started retail sales of marijuana at two locations. Perhaps no location is closer to the population centers of Connecticut than Northampton — just 30 miles up the road from Enfield.  It’s the first store east of the Mississippi River. And lest you think that this is a Massachusetts-only affair, you need only watch the news reports from today to understand that there are plenty of Connecticut residents lining up seeking to avoid the restrictions in place in the Constitution State.   And Governor-Elect Lamont has indicated he’s in favor of it.  This is going to cause headaches and some choices for employers in Connecticut. Small amounts of marijuana have been de-criminalized in Connecticut but recreational use and possession is still prohibited. Moreover, employers are still free to discipline employees for recreational use on the job or even off. But Connecticut has, for several years now, permitted medical marijuana users ...

As the decade comes to a close, a time traveler from 2009 might be surprised to see how rapidly laws on marijuana have changed.  Last night’s Democratic Debate even featured a heated discussion about legalizing marijuana. But let’s imagine that this traveler is from Human Resources. The laws regarding medical marijuana are head-spinning; these laws have resulted in a significant impact in the areas of drug testing, hiring, discipline and ADA accommodations. Now add the fact that a neighboring state – Massachusetts – has legalized pot and, well, no wonder HR professionals are just trying to play catch up. Oh, and will Connecticut join Massachusetts in 2020 and legalize pot? I’ll try to make sense of all of this at an upcoming breakfast sponsored by the Western CT chapter of SHRM. The breakfast is set for December 11, 2019 at 8 a.m. at the Hampton Inn in Danbury.  I’ve even been promised a hot breakfast. In the interim, I recently came ac...

Last night, I had the opportunity (again) to sit on a panel discussion sponsored by the Accelerator for Biosciences in Connecticut (ABCT) to talk about operational challenges for new companies and the issues associated with hiring. ABCT is one of those success stories in Connecticut that should get more press than it does.  It’s a competitive entry, six-month long program for entrepreneurial research students and faculty, MBA’s and MD’s interested in forming new ventures in biosciences. One of the themes of the discussion was that hiring employees is not for amateurs anymore. As another panel member noted, there are just far too many requirements now (training, paperwork, policies) to just shoot from the hip. And yet, new employers still need to hire staff in order to grow. One solution we discussed was giving greater consideration to PEOs, such as ADP, Paychex or Insperity (just to name a few names — not endorsing).  There are various services that sma...

Illinois Restricts Use of Artificial Intelligence in Hiring On May 29, 2019, the Illinois Legislature unanimously passed the Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act , which, not surprisingly, addresses how employers use artificial intelligence to analyze job applicant video interviews to determine the applicant’s fitness for the position.  Under the new law (assuming it is signed by the Governor, as anticipated), before requesting an applicant submit to a video interview, employers will be required to: notify applicants for positions based in Illinois that it plans to have their video interview analyzed electronically; explain how the artificial intelligence analysis technology works and what general characteristics it will use to evaluate candidates; and obtain the applicant’s consent to these procedures (note: consent does not have to be in writing). Under the bill, employers are required to destroy all copies, including back-ups, of an applicant’s video int...

On June 5, 2019, Nevada’s governor signed Assembly Bill No. 132, becoming the first state to prohibit pre-employment drug testing for the presence of marijuana (though New York City was the first city to enact such a law, as we discussed in our previous post). The law makes it unlawful for any employer to fail or refuse to hire a prospective employee because the prospective employee submitted to a blood, urine, hair, or oral fluids drug test and the results of the screening test indicate the presence of marijuana. Of course, the law provides certain exemptions. The law will not apply to prospective employees applying for certain positions, including: As a firefighter; As an emergency medical technician; That requires an employee to operate a motor vehicle and for which federal or state law requires the employee to submit to screening tests; or That, in the determination of the employer, could adversely affect the safety of others. Further, if an employer requires an employee to su...

One of the changes planned as part of the Government’s Good Work Plan is for the “Swedish derogation” within the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 to be abolished from April next year.   This is causing concern to a number of our clients who use a high volume of blue collar agency workers.    They are estimating that the cost of this change will run into millions. What is the Swedish derogation? The Swedish derogation is shorthand for a special type of employment contract provided for in Regulation 10 of the AWR.  Its official name is a “pay between assignments” contract because workers engaged on these contracts with a temporary worker agency (TWA) give up the right to pay parity with comparable permanent staff in return for a guarantee to receive a certain amount of pay when they have gaps between assignments. This arrangement has been most commonly used where large numbers of blue collar workers are needed e.g. retail, manufact...

The date is rapidly approaching when Colorado will join the growing list of states choosing to “ban the box” on criminal history inquiries by employers. On September 1, 2019, the ban-the-box law will officially go into effect in Colorado for employers with 11 or more employees (it will be applicable to all employers by September 1, 2021). The stated intent of the law is to remove job barriers for people with criminal histories to help the economy grow, to make Colorado communities safer, to provide people with criminal records a more meaningful chance to compete for a job in Colorado, and to protect an employer’s ability to make whatever hiring decision the employer deems appropriate. The highlights of the new law are as follows: Colorado employers may not advertise or state in employment applications that persons with criminal records may not apply for a position. Colorado employers may not inquire about or require disclosure of a job applicant’s criminal ...

Nicotine products are highly addictive and have been linked to a variety of serious health issues, including lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses.  In addition to the numerous health risks associated with nicotine use, there is also a causal connection between employee nicotine use and lower productivity in the workplace, as well as higher healthcare costs for employers.  In response to these issues, and in an effort to promote and empower a healthy workforce, more employers are enacting health-conscious workplace policies and anti-smoking/vaping initiatives. In fact, over the last decade, employers—particularly hospitals and businesses in the medical field—have adopted anti-smoking/vaping policies in those states in which it is lawful to do so, with the goal of encouraging a more healthy work environment, as well as to increase worker productivity and reduce healthcare costs.  As the health risks associated with nicotine use become increasingly apparen...

As we previously reported here, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Washington Supreme Court have been wrestling with whether obesity qualifies as a disability under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (“WLAD”). The dispute involves an applicant for a position with a railway company who sued in 2010, alleging that the company unlawfully refused to hire him in violation of the WLAD because of his obesity.  Six years later, a federal district court granted summary judgment in favor of the railway company, holding that because the applicant could not prove that his obesity was caused by a physiological condition or disorder or that the employer perceived his obesity as stemming from such a source, his obesity discrimination claim under state law could not proceed.  The applicant appealed, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals  concluded that whether obesity unrelated to any physiological condition or disease is a disability was an unres...

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) recently issued a new version of its Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, which is used to verify the employment authorization and identity for all employees in the United States. Although employers may now begin to use the new version, which has a 10/21/2019 version date on the bottom, they will be required to use it beginning on May 1, 2020. Failure to use the proper Form I-9 version can result in significant penalties. Changes in this new version are minor and not visible in the printed version, with most changes appearing in the drop-down menus when the form is completed electronically and in the form’s instructions. For example: The online fillable “smart” version now has an additional country available in a drop down menu in Section 1. The instructions now include: a new process for requesting paper forms, an updated USCIS website address, more detail on who can complete a Form I-...

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Los Angeles, California Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the Right of Recall and Worker Retention Ordinances into law to protect employees in some of the industries hardest hit by the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus.  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is considering extending these ordinances to the more than 120 unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, but they currently only are effective within the geographical boundaries of the City of Los Angeles.  Here is what Los Angeles employers in the airport, commercial property, event center, and hotel industries need to know now. Covered Employers The Right of Recall and Worker Retention Ordinances each apply to: airport employers (but not airlines); commercial property employers employing 25 or more janitorial, maintenance, or security service workers; event center employers, including concert halls, stadiums, sports arenas, convention centers, and racetracks; and hotel emp...