Niloy Ray discusses findings in Littler’s AI C-Suite Survey Report that reveal an awareness gap between legal chiefs and HR regarding whether their company is using AI tools.

Bloomberg Law 

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Niloy Ray discusses findings in Littler’s AI C-Suite Survey Report that reveal an awareness gap between legal chiefs and HR regarding whether their company is using AI tools.

Law360

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Kurt J. Erickson, Kerry L. Middleton, Alice D. Kirkland, Ben Sandahl, Jeremy Sosna and Susan K. Fitzke discuss important changes in Minnesota’s employment laws at the end of the recent legislative session.

SHRM

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Kelly Cardin examines NYC's proposed pay transparency legislation and what employers can do to navigate applicants' and employees' shifting expectations that have arisen as a result of salary disclosure laws and their requirements.

Law360

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Renata Neeser says Brazil’s efforts to reduce the gender pay gap are in line with the current global trend and ahead of other Latin American countries.

SHRM

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Taylor N. Brailey and Nancy N. Delogu discuss a new Pittsburgh ordinance prohibiting employment discrimination against an individual’s status as a medical marijuana patient.

SHRM

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In February 2019, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (“Development Ministry”) introduced a draft law (the “Draft Law”) that seeks to mandate human rights due diligence for German companies and their global business partners, including suppliers.

With the usual flurry of activity at the end of the legislative session, California has enacted a slew of bills with labor and employment ramifications.¹ Closing out his first year in office, Governor Gavin Newsom signed more than 40 such bills on a wide variety of topics, ranging from antidiscrimination and workplace safety measures to the much-debated worker classification bill (AB 5) codifying the ABC test from last year’s Dynamex case.

Since it was established in 2014, a United Nations Inter-Governmental Working Group (“IGWG”) has met annually to develop a multilateral treaty to attempt to hold businesses legally accountable for harms that may be related to their global operations (the “Proposed Treaty”).  Littler Mendelson attorneys have provided testimony at all of these sessions.¹ The IGWG held its most recent session from October 14-18, 2019, during which certain member States of the United Nations (“States”) and other stakeholders discussed a “Revised Draft” of the Proposed Treaty.² This Revise

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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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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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.

Rhonda Levy comments on an Ontario Supreme Court ruling in which the court struck down a claim made by a temporary foreign worker seeking damages against his employer for the statutory tort of human trafficking.

Law Times

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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.

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

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 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 and Michael McGuire answer questions about cybersecurity, eDiscovery and other data topics.

The Cybersecurity Law Report

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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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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.