Human Resources

EEOC Provides Employers With Key Workplace Investigation Tips: Your 5 Biggest Questions Answered

Employers recently received some helpful guidance from federal workplace officials to ensure your workplace investigations run smoothly, comply with legal standards, and put you in the best position to reach a fair and reasonable outcome. The EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace contained some valuable information about investigations that you might have overlooked ...
Read more

Situational Awareness at Work: Why It Matters and How to Improve It

Situational awareness isn’t just a nice-to-have trait in the workplace, but a fundamental skill that impacts the success and safety of individuals and organizations as a whole. INSIDE THIS ARTICLE, YOU’LL FIND:What is situational awareness?Why situational awareness matters in the workplaceHow to improve situational awareness: Training and exercise In modern workplaces, the ability to navigate ...
Read more

Pride Month is Here: Employer Resources for Supporting LGBTQ+ Workers and Staying Compliant All Year Long

Federal employment protections for LGBTQ+ individuals have greatly expanded over the past four years. While the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) remains committed to preventing workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, this area of the law keeps evolving. You might feel overwhelmed or confused by rapidly changing and sometimes contradictory developments. ...
Read more

What Are Tabletop Exercises? A Guide to Crisis Preparedness

Tabletop exercises simulate real-life emergencies. If your organization has gaps in its crisis response, or there are disconnects between you and your vendors, this is the time to discover them. INSIDE THIS ARTICLE, YOU’LL FIND:1. What are tabletop exercises?2. What a tabletop exercise accomplishes3. How does a tabletop exercise work?4. Tips for effective tabletop exercises Today, ...
Read more

10 Steps Employers Should Take to Protect Workers this Summer as Feds Prepare to Finalize Heat Rule

Employers need to take action to protect workers from heat illnesses and injuries as temperatures begin to rise nationwide – not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because federal workplace safety officials are finalizing a stringent new heat rule that would considerably raise the stakes for employers. The Occupational Safety and Health ...
Read more

FP Hospitality Industry Snapshot: Hospitality Employers Must Quickly Prepare for New Overtime Rule With 7 Steps

Hospitality employers will likely feel a big impact from the new federal overtime rule, which significantly raises the exempt salary threshold for certain employees in two phases. Specifically, the salary threshold for the so-called “white-collar” exemptions will rise from $35K to about $44K on July 1 and will jump to nearly $59K at the start ...
Read more

FTC Finalizes Non-Compete Rule – Prohibiting All New Non-Compete Agreements

As many of you may have heard by now, on April 23, 2024, almost exactly one year after it set forth its Proposed Rule regarding Non-Compete Clauses, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a pre-publication version of its final Non-Compete Clause Rule (the “Final Rule”). Barring judicial interference, the Final Rule will likely go into effect in ...
Read more

ADDRESSING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE: 7 STEPS FOR PREVENTION AND MITIGATION

Organizations must do more to protect their personnel from the threats or actions of violence. Here are seven steps they can take to help mitigate and respond to workplace violence.  INSIDE THIS ARTICLE, YOU’LL FIND:1. Understand the problem 2. Create a written workplace violence prevention plan 3. Lean on technology for prevention and reaction 4. ...
Read more

New EEOC Workplace Harassment Guidance on LGBTQ+ Workers and More Takes Effect Immediately: 5 Key Takeaways for Employers

Employers may need to update their harassment-prevention policies, procedures, and trainings now that the federal government released long-anticipated guidance on the topic. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s enforcement guidance on harassment in the workplace was updated yesterday for the first time in 30 years to adapt existing standards to the modern workplace. Specifically, the agency ...
Read more

Starbucks Asks SCOTUS for Clearer Standard for NLRB Injunctions: What Employers Need to Know

In a case before the Supreme Court, Starbucks says it fired several employees for violating valid company policies — but the National Labor Relations Board convinced a lower court to reinstate the employees while a legal battle ensues over whether they were actually fired for engaging in union organizing activities. The coffee chain argues the ...
Read more