Mickey Chichester and Jan-Ove Becker write about the EU’s proposal to regulate the use of AI in employment decisions, including selecting, terminating and evaluating employees.

World at Work

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Stefan Marculewicz weighs in on the possibility of the US government implementing supply chain restrictions amid claims of forced labor in Xinjiang, despite the opposition of the business world. 

Global Times

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Rhonda Levy and Barry Kuretzky examine Canada’s federal Pay Equity Act and offer tips to employers for establishing a pay equity plan.

Human Resources Director Canada

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Barry Hartstein discusses the findings of Littler’s Delta Variant Update report and what they reveal about employers’ current thinking surrounding vaccine mandates.

Corporate Counsel

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Rhonda Levy and Douglas Sanderson discuss a recent court decision in Canada that sheds light on how best to deal with accommodation requests.

Human Resources Director Canada

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In January 2022, the New York State Senate introduced a bill that seeks to impose significant human rights and environmental due diligence and disclosure obligations on fashion retail sellers and manufacturers operating in the state of New York.  As we reported previously, 2021 saw a number of international and regional legislative efforts to impose human rights due diligence and disclosure obligations on multinational employers.

Rhonda B. Levy and George Vassos write about a case in which a Canadian judge finally ruled on whether or not COVID laws are in breach of human rights.

Human Resources Director Canada

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George Vassos says arbitrators have largely favored employers’ vaccination policies, but employers don’t have carte blanche. 

Benefits Canada

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Karolina Schiffter discusses whether Ukrainian citizens who claim refugee status can work in Poland.

Gazeta Prawna

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National and supranational legislatures continue to develop laws requiring employers to conduct due diligence of their operations and those of their business partners in order to address human rights risks such as forced labor and child labor.  Recently, the European Union (EU), Switzerland, and Japan have rolled out such laws, described below:

EU’s Corporate Due Diligence and Corporate Accountability Directive

Rhonda B. Levy and Douglas Sanderson examine The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario preliminary hearing to determine whether allegations made under the Human Rights Code fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of a labour arbitrator, or whether the Tribunal had concurrent jurisdiction over employment-related human rights matters in a unionized workplace. 

Human Resources Director Canada

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed into law eight pieces of legislation designed to combat human trafficking. These laws require many hospitality industry employers to provide specific anti-human-trafficking awareness training to employees. They also require certain hospitality and transportation industry employers to post information regarding services available to human trafficking victims.

On May 11, 2023, Canada passed An Act to enact Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff (the “Act”). As we reported previously, the Act will create supply chain transparency and reporting obligations for certain companies as part of Canada’s efforts to fight against forced labour and child labour in Canadian supply chains.

The Texas legislature meets only for approximately six months every other year. This session, many bills signed into law impact employers. This article summarizes some of these new laws and how they impact employment operations in the State of Texas.

State Preemption of Conflicting Local Laws (AKA the “Death Star Law”)

Lavanga Wijekoon and Aki Tanaka explore the significant impact of the European Union’s expected Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) on global corporate responsibility, with a specific focus on its implications for Japanese companies.

Institute for Security and Development Policy

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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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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 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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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

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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Employers are feeling some regulatory relief following a year that brought several changes to workplace policy, but are also grappling with the uncertainty these shifts have created. Sweeping regulatory changes have left them to redesign policies and strategies that had only recently been updated, while simultaneously navigating a growing patchwork of employment laws as states and localities work to fill perceived policy vacuums at the federal level.

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

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

The National Law Journal

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Aaron Crews explains the many ways AI can benefit employers.

SHRM Online

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

CIO Review

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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.
 

Employers’ compliance challenges have swelled on multiple fronts over the past year as HR and business leaders grapple with an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. With changes under the Trump administration proving slow to materialize, most employers continue to anticipate robust enforcement by the Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in particular.