The Employment Law Chronicle

Increasing its on-line advisory tools, the U.S. Department of Labor launched a new "elaws" tool to help employers comply with federal labor laws by determining the recordkeeping, reporting and notice requirements that apply to them.

What are elaws? According to DOL, "The elaws advisors are free, Web-based tools designed to help employers and workers understand the department's major employment laws. By asking a series of questions, the advisors simulate a conversation with a Department of Labor expert and guide users to customized information explaining the requirements of each law. By asking questions such as size of business, location and type of industry through multiple choice or yes and no questions, the FirstStep Employment Law Overview Advisor determines which federal employment laws apply to each user. The advisor then provides information from the Labor Department's Employment Law Guide on the basic provisions of these laws."

Elaws are available at www.dol.gov/elaws/firststep.

Posted by Lori J. Searcy | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Company Policies & Handbooks , Government Agencies

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Employers in Virginia, the District of Columbia and nationwide need to ensure that testing and selection procedures used to screen job applicants or existing employees for advancement or other opportunities do not have a discriminatory impact on the basis of race, sex, age, disability or other protected category. In recent years, testing and selection criteria have been a prime target of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) enforcement efforts. For example, in November 2006, the Eighth Circuit affirmed a $3 million judgment in EEOC v. Dial Corp resulting from a strength test that appeared to have excluded women from entry-level jobs. In 2007, Ford Motor Company, two of its affiliates, and the UAW entered into a $1.6 million settlement stemming from cognitive apprenticeship tests that appeared to have excluded African Americans. That settlement came on the heels of an $8.5 million settlement in a related case.

In the wake of these multi-million dollar judgments and settlements, the EEOC issued a fact sheet to assist employers in understanding how to avoid employment discrimination claims based on tests and other selection criteria.

Continue reading "EEOC Best Practices: How to Test Employees Without Violating Discrimination Laws" »

Posted by Lori J. Searcy | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Age Discrimination , Company Policies & Handbooks , Disability Discrimination , Employee Testing & Screening , Employment Discrimination , Employment Law 101 , Employment Law Summaries , National Origin & Citizenship , Other Types of Discrimination , Race Discrimination , Religion , Sex, Equal Pay & Pregnancy

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