Civility

May 25, 2015

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Civility

OMG! LGBT. TMI?

Oh my gosh, employees do not have to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity. However, it is not too much information to know the sexual orientation and gender identity of one’s employees. Employers should have an increased awareness of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees to establish and communicate their stance to protect those rights. The great majority of large employers and many smaller employers include sexual orientation and gender identity under their anti-discrimination policies. Federal employees and federal contractors are required to protect employees from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. Several states, cities and […]

March 26, 2015

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Civility

Celebrate FMLA Justice

It has been almost two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional. Until that time, certain entitlements of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) were only available to opposite-sex married couples. Same-sex married couples are only eligible for FMLA entitlements if the state where the couple resides allows same- sex marriages. That changed on March 27, 2015. Same-sex married couples will be treated the same under the FMLA as opposite-sex married couples. In the final rule issued February 25, 2015 and effective March 27, 2015, the definition of spouse […]

September 23, 2014

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Civility

The Hourly Rate of Poverty

Minimum wage began in 1938. Employees engaged in or producing goods for interstate commerce were granted a minimum wage of $0.25 per hour. That same year, President Roosevelt stated, “I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.” after federal agencies studied income levels. Poverty lines before 1958 did not take family size into consideration. After that time, the gender of head of household as well as family size were factors. Later, gender was dropped from the quotient. The earliest poverty threshold for a woman with two children was $2393 in 1961. By that time, the minimum wage rose to […]

April 8, 2014

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Civility

Drawing the line on civility

The NLRB requires most private employers to abide by the National Labor Relations Act. Very basically, Section 7 gives employees the right to organize and to engage in concerted activities for mutual aid, and the right to refrain from any such activities for the most part. Section 8 describes unfair labor practices of employers. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) conducts thousands of unfair labor practice investigations each year. A recent finding ruled it unlawful to require employees to refrain from negativity in the workplace. Hills and Dales General Hospital was struggling in 2005. Departments were not cooperating with each other, […]