What's causing that perfect storm? Consider these ten facts:
1. Economy: Last fall, we experienced a near-collapse of the world's economic system, and the recovery is just starting.
2. Unemployment is record-high. Millions of people have lost their jobs since the start of the year. Major employee retention strategies have failed, plants are closed, and companies filed for bankruptcy.
3. Workplace harassment and discrimination claims soared to unprecedented levels during fiscal year 2008. According to the EEOC, 82,792 charges were filed in 2007 and 95,402 in 2008, a 15% increase in just one year. Claims of age discrimination went up 29%.
4. Net Worth: Employees have seen their 401(k) and other retirement ccount balances plummet. As a result, a number of older workers will have to delay retirement, thus reducing the normal employee turnover rate, which could result in even more layoffs than otherwise would be needed. It could also lead to more age discrimination claims.5. FMLA: Families of active duty military have new FMLA rights, as of January, 2009. Employees with a son, daughter, parent, or spouse called to active duty can take time from work to handle
"qualifying exigencies" related to the call to duty, and can also take up to 6 months off to care for the service member, if he or she is injured in the line of active duty.
6. Family Leave Insurance: As of July 1, 2009, New Jersey has joined California in providing employees with paid Family Leave Insurance benefits. Washington State was supposed to begin FLI coverage in October, 2009, but deferred the start date because of the state's financial woes. More than a dozen other states are considering FLI or paid sick leave laws.
7. Easier to Sue: President Obama has already signed legislation making it easier for workers to sue for pay discrimination, and his administration has beefed up enforcement of existing labor, employment, and interviewing laws, hiring hundreds of new corporate compliance officials.8. Anti-Retaliation Protection: In January, 2009 the US Supreme Court extended federal antiretaliation protection to workers who participate in internal investigations.9. Codes of Conduct: As of the end of 2008, all federal contractors and subcontractors must have adopted codes of conduct and must train their employees on them.
10. New Laws: Congress is considering laws to: expand federal discrimination protection to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees; mandate sick pay; overhaul union organizing; index the minimum wage to the inflation rate; extend the WARN notice period to 90 days; toughen OSHA protections; remove damage caps from federal discrimination cases; and more.
What this means to you?
If you think your mid-level managers and even new managers and supervisors aren't clear about the legal risks they can create for your company every time they evaluate, re-assign, respond to employee issues, or provide performance management feedback you are probably right.
So how can your organization design and avoid a shipwreck in this perfect storm?
Make sure the captain and crew (that is, even your new managers and new supervisors) are well-trained to:
- Know the waters
- Spot employment law hazards
- Chart their business reasons for all decisions ,and
- Seek advice from navigation experts (corporate leadership, upper management, HR, Legal)
Learn more about our wide-range of workplace compliance solutions ..
