As we head toward the true start of summer, many of us look forward to reading a good book while on vacation at the beach or in the mountains. While summer may be a great opportunity for R&R, we thought our clients might also like to stay abreast of some issues that affect them as an employer. Enjoy!
- Supreme Court Decision Supports Employer Rights in Dispute Arbitration: In late May, the Supreme Court found that class action waivers in mandatory employment arbitration agreements are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). This decision empowers companies to require employees to engage in mandatory, individual arbitration, which would preemptively bar them from pursuing class action claims. https://www.natlawreview.com/article/arbitration-agreements-and-supreme-court-s-recent-decision-epic-change-employers
- Overtime Calculations: Why Getting Them Right Is So Important: Calculating overtime may seem simple, but it can be more complicated than you might think, especially when personnel that work overtime also receive additional pay incentives, such as a bonus. As detailed in this recent article, it’s important for employers to get these calculations right. https://www.natlawreview.com/article/are-you-correctly-calculating-overtime
- Gender Pay Discrimination Suit Reinforces the Expense of Not Following the Law: A 10-year fight by Family Dollar against 50 female employees who sued the company in a class action has resulted in a $45 million settlement in favor of the plaintiffs. This outcome, undoubtedly on top of massive legal fees, underscores the exposure that firms face when they do not comply with laws regarding equal opportunity and treatment for all classes of employees. https://www.natlawreview.com/article/class-action-gender-pay-discrimination-case-settles-45-millionvideo
- Artificial Intelligence – Is Human Resources Ready for It?: The Society for Human Resource Management has posted an interesting article about the ways in which companies could put artificial intelligence to work, from data analytics to assess pay equity to chatbots that respond to simple HR information requests. However, there are still many considerations – including legal pitfalls – when replacing human interaction and oversight with machine intelligence. https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/Pages/How-Can-Artificial-Intelligence-Work-for-HR.aspx