Legislative Developments

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Equal pay has become a hot topic on both the state and federal levels. As a woman who is a management-side employment attorney, I sometimes find myself puzzled as to how this topic came to be such a hot button issue, especially since there are already many laws on the books that address equal pay.…

On January 29, 2016, President Obama announced a series of actions intended to close the gender pay equity gap, including proposed revisions to the EEO-1 form that would require the submission of detailed pay information.

As President Obama stated in his press conference, and as set forth in a White House Fact Sheet, “New Steps to Advance Equal Pay on the Seventh Anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act,” the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today issued a proposed rule to expand the information collected on the EEO-1 form. The EEO-1 form must be submitted annually in September by (1) employers with more than 100 employees and (2) government contractors with more than 50 employees and more than $50,000 in federal contracts or subcontracts. It requires employers to provide information regarding the race, ethnicity, sex, and job category of their workforce. The proposed revision would add the requirement to provide aggregated data on pay and hours worked, broken down into pay bands by the same race, ethnicity, and sex categories. According to the EEOC’s press release on the EEO-1 revisions, the EEOC and the OFCCP will use the submitted data to analyze pay disparities across industries and occupations, and facilitate federal antidiscrimination actions. In addition, EEOC will publish aggregated data that employers can use in their own voluntary compliance efforts.
Continue Reading President Obama Radically Expands EEO-1 Reporting Requirements

So I found this case, Smith v. URS Corp., interesting because it involved a black employee Dollar signwho got what he wanted, but was still able to sue for discrimination.

The black employee received the job he applied for (training specialist) and more pay than he asked for ($57,668 instead of $46,000). He was given a classification title and job code of “Senior Training Specialist (65010)” and a job grade of S5.12. Five months later, a white applicant applied for the same training specialist job but asked for a $65,000 salary. He was hired into a Senior Training Specialist role at his requested salary, with a classification title and job code of “Staff Training Specialist (65010) and a job grade of S5.13. Shortly after that, another black applicant applied for a training specialist position with a desired salary of “58K to 65K.” He was given the same job title, classification, code and grade as the other black employee.

The first black employee sued for race discrimination after he was terminated pursuant to a reduction in force. The trial court threw out his claims on summary judgment before trial because the black employee had received the job he wanted and more pay than he sought. (Hmm, that seems pretty logical, doesn’t it?)Continue Reading Giving Employees What They Want Doesn’t Preclude Discrimination Claim

There’s a part of me that thoroughly enjoys a smackdown between government agencies. (The other part of me is screaming at the government inefficiency and waste of my tax dollars). Here’s a good one.

As most of you know, the U.S. Department of Labor released its proposed revisions to the overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The current regulations set forth three tests for exempt status: (1) the employee must be paid on a salary basis; (2) the salary threshold must be at least $455 per week ($23,660 per year); and (3) the employee must meet duties tests specific to the exemption in questions (executive, administrative or professional). As we discussed (with a highly raised eyebrow) in a previous blog, the proposed regulations contain only one actual change to these tests – an increase in the salary level to over $50,000 per year, with yearly increases thereafter.

The public was invited to submit comments on the proposed regulations – 289,932 individuals and entities took them up on that invitation. One of those was the Small Business Administration – another federal agency. The SBA has an Office of Advocacy, which represents the interests of small businesses before Congress and other federal agencies.Continue Reading Don’t Invite the SBA and the DOL to the Same Party!

On Labor Day 2015, President Obama issued an Executive Order that requires certain government contractors and subcontractors to provide up to 7 days of paid sick leave per year. This leave may be used for illness or injury; medical appointments or treatment; caring for an injured or ill family member, or obtaining medical treatment for…

Transgender rights have been receiving a considerable amount of media attention this week, most of which has been sparked by the magazine Vanity Fair featuring a cover story about “Keeping up with the Kardashians” star and former Olympian Bruce Jenner as a trans woman (Caitlyn Jenner). On the same day that the cover story was…

Employers did not need another reason to complain about the burdens of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Most of us know that the law includes onerous obligations on employers that have made human resources and benefits personnel’s jobs increasingly difficult. For example, you have to figure out if the law applies to your organization (how…

As one of the co-chairs for the Employment Issues Task Force of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, I see the employment legislation that is proposed during each Maryland General Assembly session. Some of it makes sense (although, frankly, not often), and some of it makes me scream (literally – just ask my partners). For…