Posted by marykeating on January 31, 2012 under Discrimination in employment | 
Since the new administration came into power in early 2009, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has enjoyed more resources and more leeway to pursue cases of discrimination. It has taken on a number of employers accused of multiple instances of discrimination, and has entered into highly publicized settlements with many of them. The areas of interest span systematic sex discrimination, job rules with impact on certain religions (such as no-facial hair rules), and rules that discriminate against disabled workers, such as no-fault attendance policies.
The EEOC recently announced a long-term plan to increase its enforcement muscle even more. The original idea behind the EEOC and the mandatory administrative filing was to work out disputes quickly, and give the EEOC the information needed to identify and root out discrimination by taking direct enforcement action. With more than 110,000 charges of discrimination filed in the last two years, though, the EEOC has to allocate its resources to maximize the impact. It promises to take some individual cases, but to increase the number of systemic discrimination cases as well.
The strategic plan is still being drafted; the EEOC hopes to finalize it by September. Any comments on the plan are due by tomorrow, and can be made by email, to strategic.plan@eeoc.gov .
Posted by marykeating on January 24, 2012 under Economic situation, sexual harassment |
The Ethics Resource Center issued its biannual report on the prevalence of misconduct in American companies. Two counter-intuitive findings stood out for me: One found that in bad economic times company ethics improved, while the reporting of misconduct rose. The study found that pressure to engage in unethical behavior is more rampant. Likewise, retaliation against whistleblowing increased, to the point where it is now at an all time high.
On the other hand, while employees thought that workplace ethics was on the decline, they observed less misconduct overall. Some believed that wrongdoers were laying low during the recession. The center predicted that “as the economy gets better – and companies and employees become more optimistic about their financial futures – it seems likely that misconduct will rise and reporting will drop.”
Though it would seem that misconduct would increase during difficult economic times, not all misconduct is designed to increase profits. The Center shows that the incidence of misconduct observed by employees rises and falls with the stock market. The study suggests that employees are more careful when their job stability is more fragile to avoid sexual harassment and other misconduct.
Another finding focused on people who actively used social networking. The report showed that they report more negative experiences in their workplaces, and were more likely to be retaliated against. At the same time, they “show a higher tolerance for certain activities that could be considered questionable.”
The report strongly recommends that employers improve their commitment to ethics programs, end retaliation, and bond with active social networkers, who are more likely to witness misconduct, and generally to say positive things on social networking sites.
Posted by marykeating on January 17, 2012 under Collective rights, Pending legislation |
The National Labor Relations Board decided to postpone the effective date of its earlier requirement that employers post a comprehensive summary of employees’ rights to organize.
The posting requirement has created a firestorm among employers. It is designed to overcome the anti-union environment. Some employees believe that they have no right to talk among themselves about the conditions of the workplace, and that some workplaces are non-union, and they have no right to try to change it.
The first postponement required the poster to be on employer memo boards by January 31.
As of now, the poster must be used by April 30, 2012. The rule is pending a court challenge to the requirement, so further postponements or even a withdrawal of the requirement could occur.
Posted by marykeating on January 14, 2012 under Religious discrimination |
This week, the Supreme Court decided a closely watched Case, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Cheryl Perich was a teacher at a Christian school. She sued the school after her termination, claiming the discharge violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The school countered that the Courts had no right to interfere with how they decided their personnel matters, given the separation of church and state.
Courts have refused to get involved in disputes over the firing of a church’s pastor, invoking the “ministerial exception,” adopted by the Supreme Court in this decision. The gray areas involving other employees of religious institutions led to subtle rules. The Supreme Court sweeps a lot of that away with this decision. The teacher in this case was “called” to her faith, and counted as a religious minister, though her religious duties at this school were minor. She had a special diploma and commissioned by her congregation’s vote. Other teachers who were not “called” performed the same functions, but because of ther status as a commissioned minister, the Court said it would not decide whether her termination violated federal law. It therefore refused to consider the school’s argument that she was fired for violating church policy of resolving disputes internally, and not through courts. The Supreme Court stopped short of requiring a reason for the firing; it says that federal courts are constitutionally forbidden from questioning such terminations.
Posted by marykeating on January 3, 2012 under Economic situation, Unemployment compensation |
According to a recent survey, almost a third of people unemployed in the third quarter of 2011 had been without a job for more than a year. This figure is double that of two years earlier. As with many other unemployment patterns, the groups hardest hit are the oldest, and the least educated workers.
The study does not delve into the personal costs of the lack of job prospects for so many months. But the International Monetary Fund tackled the “human cost” of long-term recessions, concluding that some of the advanced economies with relatively high incomes were the most affected. Oddly, the United States suffered a large increase in the number of unemployed people, while Germany and Japan did not. The study traces the likely lingering effects, from worker discouragement to lifelong diminishing earnings. These in turn lead to negative health outcomes, including stress-related illnesses and the health implications of losing health insurance.
An interesting component of instability focuses on social cohesion. Data from around the world supports the conclusion that the “personal joblessness experience translates into negative opinions about the effectiveness of democracy and increases the desire for a rogue leader.” On a more personal scale, the loss of a job affects one’s ability to interact with co-workers on the job; at any place that requires cash; and any time one’s personal sense of worth is so attached to being employed that old friends or haunts are avoided. Further, the additional burden on younger workers delays their independence.
Posted by marykeating on January 2, 2012 under Economic situation, Unemployment compensation |
The old year ended with Congress deciding to join together, begrudgingly perhaps, in extending unemployment benefits for two more months. The Republican standoff, which attempted to tie any relief in the unemployment benefits arena to agenda items such as an agreement not to increase taxes on the wealthiest. Almost three million unemployed workers would have lost their benefits by February, but for the extension.
The upshot is that people who became unemployed in the summer are able to move on to the emergency benefit program once their 26 weeks elapse.
The social security payroll tax cut was also extended for two months. According to the Washington Post, the tax cut saved the average household $900 last year, but worries about social security’s solvency and independence increased with the move to lenghtn the tax cut.
