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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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 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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Marko Mrkonich comments on the current capabilities of artificial intelligence in the workplace.

Workforce

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

Littler attorneys comment on the results of Littler's Annual Employer Survey and analyze the impact that sweeping regulatory changes and other factors, including the #MeToo movement, have on employers.

General Counsel News

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Aaron Crews explains how data scientists can help attorneys with efficiencies and innovations both internally and externally.

Legal Executive Institute

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Aaron Crews offers advice on how law firms' innovation efforts can be more successful.

Legal Executive Institute

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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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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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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?

Kevin O’Neill co-authored this article about how employers can combat workplace bullying.

Corporate Counsel

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Katherine Cooper Franklin co-authored this article about how employers can combat workplace bullying.

Corporate Counsel

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As 2017 winds down, and the window closes to complete any mandatory training, Kevin O’Neill, Senior Director of Littler Learning Group, chats with Dawn McKenney-Maxwell of Littler’s Knowledge Management team about employer training initiatives. Kevin identifies hot topics – social media and bystander training, for example – and reviews employer anti-harassment training duties, particularly in California. Kevin discusses how training approaches continue to evolve and how employers can embrace new trends and technology to make employee training more effective.
 

Kevin O’Neill comments on the uptick in requests for harassment training from employers.

The Washington Post

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Yesterday’s anti-harassment training won’t cut it in the #MeToo era. Employers must take stock of steps they have taken to prevent and stop sexual harassment in the workplace, and identify how they will answer the clear call for truly effective anti-harassment training.

Jennifer Youpa, a shareholder in Littler’s Dallas office, and Kevin O’Neill, Senior Director of Littler’s Learning Group, discuss the importance of harassment complaint investigations in the #MeToo climate. As Jennifer and Kevin explain, investigatory responses can no longer be “one size fits all,” especially with the possibility of the viral disclosure of allegations or incidents through social media. In this podcast, Jennifer and Kevin reveal strategies and trends they have seen as they conduct training for employers on sexual harassment and related issues.

In this podcast, Littler attorneys Michael Kessel, Russ McEwan and Alan Model, out of our Newark office, discuss the importance of cultivating “employee engagement” to foster a productive, invested workforce. They also describe the new Littler Positive Employee Relations Series, which offers customized, intensive training to supervisors on the causes of negative morale and then arms them with practical tools to spot and handle problems before they get out of hand.
 

On August 29, 2018, Delaware Governor John Carney signed into law a bill (HB 360) addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. The new law broadly defines, and prohibits, sexual harassment and retaliation. The statute obligates employers (with 4 or more employees) to issue an information sheet on sexual harassment. It also requires larger employers (with 50 or more employees) to provide sexual harassment training for all employees and supervisors, making Delaware the fifth state to statutorily mandate sexual harassment training.

Happy New Year! As we turn the calendar to 2019, employers across the country are taking stock of recently-enacted workplace regulations on a wide variety of topics.¹

Employers in the Golden State, in particular, have a lot to juggle: new governor, new legislative session, and dozens of new labor and employment laws taking effect as of January 1.² These statutes touch on numerous issues, ranging from lactation accommodation to meal breaks for certain commercial drivers.³

Effective January 1, 2019, California SB 1343 greatly expanded Golden State employers' anti-harassment training requirements. The law not only extends coverage to employers with more than five employees, but it also mandates that employers provide anti-harassment training to all employees – not just supervisors – every two years. But what if an employer provided this training in 2018? Can the next training cycle wait until 2020? No, according to recent guidance from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH).

Last year, California enacted SB 1343,¹ amending California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to expand employers' sexual harassment training requirements.  Previously, employers with 50 or more employees had to provide their supervisory personnel with two hours of sexual harassment prevention training every two years.

Bruce Sarchet, of Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, and Marissa Dragoo with the Littler Learning Group, take a look at a new type of workplace training – bystander intervention training – that is now encouraged for California employers. This optional training teaches employees how to evaluate and respond to problematic behaviors in the workplace, empowering them to interrupt difficult situations, such as sexual harassment.
 

As we have previously reported,¹ New York State and New York City both enacted legislation in 2018 that require New York employers to train their employees in workplace sexual harassment prevention. The state training legislation went into effect on October 9, 2018, and the city training legislation went into effect on April 1, 2019.

On August 30, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 778, revising mandatory anti-harassment training deadlines, and resolving confusion about retraining requirements for certain employees who already received training in 2018 or 2019.

Asha Santos, Shareholder in Littler’s Boston office, explains the purpose of bystander intervention training and the value of diversity and inclusion sessions in today's workplace.