On March 15, 2024, the EU member states voted in favor of the European Supply Chain Directive (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive – CSDDD) in the EU Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) after a long back-and-forth. The vote, originally scheduled for February 9, 2024, had been initially canceled and postponed indefinitely. The reason for this was that numerous member states – including Germany – had already announced their abstention from the vote in advance. The final version of the directive is less burdensome for companies compared to the previous draft.

Are employers required to conduct human rights due diligence in their global operations?

The scope and scale of many employers’ global operations and their global supply chains are expanding. This expansion has led to a greater focus on the risk of corporate human rights abuses such as forced labor, child labor, and other forms of modern slavery.

On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, the EU member states in the EU Parliament voted in favor of the European Supply Chain Directive (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive – CSDDD). This is one of the final steps in a long legislative process. The vote had been delayed several times at the beginning of the year because some EU member states—including Germany—had announced that they would vote against the directive. The planned liability regime of the directive was a particular point of contention.

Content and scope

Lavanga V. Wijekoon and Emily Linn examine a new Illinois law (SB 1782) that enhances restrictions on the employment of minors and imposes certain new civil and criminal penalties on violating employers.

SHRM

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Zev Eigen considers artificial intelligence and predictive coding to be tools in making better informed hiring decisions. 

Corporate Counsel

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During a presentation at the 2017 SHRM Employment Law and Legislative Conference, Marko Mrkonich, Zev Eigen and Corinn Jackson discussed the risks employers face when using data analytics.

HR Daily Advisor

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Zev Eigen and Marko Mrkonich explore the benefits and potential risks of using data analytics to augment HR decision-making processes.

SHRM Online

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Zev Eigen discusses how employers can utilize Big Data to help close the gender wage gap in their organizations.

SHRM Online

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Zev Eigen comments on the increasing importance and role of data analytics in the legal industry.

Financial Post

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Zev Eigen recommends that organizations regularly analyze data and policies to avoid compensation gaps between men and women.

Information Management

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Zev Eigen comments on the value of data in making decisions on compensation.

HR Dive

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Zev Eigen authored an article covering the data science revolution in HR, as well as tools readily available to employers.

The Lawyer's Daily

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Scott Forman authored this article regarding big data, benchmarking, predictive modeling and trendspotting.

Today's General Counsel

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The Littler Pay Equity Assessment™ Provides Enhanced Data Analytics to Help Employers Assess Risk and Proactively Identify Solutions

Scott Rechtschaffen talks about cybersecurity enhancements and the importance of investing in technology. 

Law360

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Aaron Crews suggests how data could change business law.

Law.com

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The Massachusetts Attorney General has recently published an Overview and Frequently Asked Questions (the “Overview”) regarding the amendment to the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act, set to take effect on July 1, 2018.  The Overview answers many questions that employers have been asking about this wide-ranging new law.  The Overview also confirms the importance of an employer self-evaluation, offering some direction on what types of evaluations are appropriate, and explaining how it could protect a company from liability under the law.

The New Equal Pay Act

Lee Schreter discusses the impact of artificial intelligence and data analytics on the practice of law. 

Georgia State News

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Aaron Crews is quoted regarding technology’s role in HR. 

HR Dive

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Aaron Crews explains Littler's Pay Equity Assessment Tool.

Employee Benefit News

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Seventh annual survey of more than 1,100 employers reveals how companies are responding to rapid social and political changes

Bloomberg Law’s^® Daily Labor Report^® news team at the Littler Executive Employer^® Conference interviewed panelists about a broad spectrum of employment and labor topics addressing significant developments, emerging trends and challenges facing in-house counsel, employee relations professionals and human resources executives.

Denise Visconti and Allan King urge employers to be vigilant regarding pay equity issues.

The National Law Journal

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Aaron Crews discusses efficient ways to use AI in the workplace.

HR Dive

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Report Explores the Myriad Issues Related to Technology-Induced Displacement of Employees (TIDE)

Aaron Crews authored this article on how planning can help HR leverage big data and analytics to improve hiring, training and retention.

HR Technologist

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Aaron Crews and Marko Mrkonich co-authored this article that breaks down big data and explains how it can be used in the workplace.

TLNT

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Aaron Crews discusses how employers are using data to move diversity and inclusion programs forward.

Human Resource Executive

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Scott Rechtschaffen authored this article on the future of knowledge management in law firms.

CIO Review

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Jason Dirkx and Scott Rechtschaffen consider the intersection of technology and law degrees. 

ABA Journal

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In this podcast, Aaron Crews, Littler’s Chief Data Analytics Officer, discusses potential uses for AI in supporting HR decisionmaking with Athena Karp, the CEO and cofounder of HiredScore. They explore ways that technology – such as explainable algorithms – can serve employers by improving the effectiveness and transparency of processes for companies and other stakeholders, including candidates. They also address how organizations can structure, validate and verify their data and data training to prevent bias from sneaking into AI-driven analysis.
 

Eighth annual survey of more than 1,300 employers finds HR and business leaders grappling with increasingly complex compliance challenges, focused on preventing workplace harassment and pay inequality

Scott Rechtschaffen suggests law firms interested in building and selling technology products should become more nimble. 

ABA Journal

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Philip Gordon suggests steps that employers should take in response to the privacy act.

SHRM Online

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In an age where computer generated imagery (CGI) and digital effects enable entire film genres to exist, like Marvel’s superhero series the Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy, audiences have no expectation that movies they consume depict actual events or reflect reality. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the context and forum of how digital media and information is communicated, observed and consumed informs our default expectations of it.

In this podcast, Aaron Crews, Littler’s Chief Data Analytics Officer, Natalie Pierce, co-chair of Littler’s Robotics, AI and Automation Practice Group and Diversity and Inclusion Council and Garry Mathiason, co-chair of Littler’s Robotics, AI and Automation Practice Group discuss what impact AI and automation will have on employers in the future.
 

Natalie Pierce, co-chair of Littler's Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Automation practice group, and Debra Kadner, machine learning expert and cofounder of Eskalera, discuss the framework for helping employers build their workforces for the future.
 

In this podcast, Littler’s Chief Knowledge Officer, Scott Rechtschaffen, talks with his Cornell Law School students about the potential for lawyers to use software to develop practical tools for the delivery of legal services. During their semester, the students experienced how to take their growing knowledge of the law, identify a problem, coordinate with subject matter and technical experts, and create a legal app designed to assist users, who might be either clients or fellow attorneys.

Aaron Crews describes the use of data in determining liability and building arguments in wage and hour lawsuits.

Financial Times

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Aaron Crews describes the various duties of legal technologists.

Legaltech News

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Mickey Chichester and Natalie Pierce examine how companies may turn to AI and robotics to mitigate disruption and some of the employment implications of such initiatives.

Supply Chain Toolbox

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Scott Forman explains how firms must adopt integrated technology in order to operate collectively.

LegalTech News

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Welcome to our new bi-monthly series, where we compare employment law and practice from an international perspective, drawing on the experience of local and international employment lawyers who deal with these issues every day.

The first article in our series compares the new UK Government’s proposed changes to unfair dismissal protection with the law in Germany to see if there are any lessons that can be learned for UK employers from Continental Europe.

What’s to come in the UK?

How should an employer respond when an employee is accused, charged, or convicted of a crime?

Fortunately, this is not a day-to-day issue that HR teams tend to deal with, but when it does arise, it can raise complex employment law issues and employers may have a PR crisis on their hands.