The Connecticut General Assembly is already busy with a full compliment of employment law bills under consideration.  At this point, it seems likely that several will pass in one form or another and thus employers should be playing close attention to the developments. Here are a few of the Senate ones that I’m watching (I’ll tackle the House bills in tomorrow’s post – now available here): Senate Bill 1 – This is the…

In my prior post, I wondered aloud whether there were some rough waters ahead for employers.  Apple recently announced that it would not meet it’s earnings estimates in the first quarter of 2019, in part because of soft demand from China. Other companies are expected to announce some similar issues. Honestly, I’ve had enough conversations in the last few years with HR professionals who just haven’t lived through a major downturn. Think about this way:…

You do a blog long enough and everything comes full circle.  Back in January 2008, I took out my crystal ball and suggested that reductions in force (RIFs) and lawsuits would soon follow. We all know what happened next. The economy crashed and discrimination claims at the EEOC peaked at their highest levels in more than 20 years.   So here we are 11 years later.  A whole generation of HR professionals have never experienced a…

It’s sometimes easy to forget that the government shutdown has very real-world implications. Case in point? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. As of now, it’s closed.  The agency has even posted a notice about it on its’ website.  That doesn’t mean that the time limits for filing a charge have been extended.   Generally, federal claims must be filed within 300 days of the alleged discrimination. As noted by the EEOC, “These time limits may not…

January 1st is typically a time for new laws to kick in and 2019 is no exception. For employers, the biggest change is one that I discussed way back in May with amendments to Connecticut’s Pay Equity law. The new law prohibits employers from asking a job applicant his or her wage and salary history. But the prohibition does not apply in two situations: if the prospective employee voluntarily discloses his or her wage and…

The holidays are here and you know what that means: New Year’s Resolutions. I recently caught up with Attorney Sarah Poriss who I’ve known for many years and realized she had an interesting perspective for employers and how to start the year off right. Sarah runs her own small firm focusing, in part, on foreclosures for individuals.  Recently, she’s been handling matters for homeowners impacted by the crumbling foundation crisis happening in eastern Connecticut.  What…

Now that Thanksgiving is in the past, it’s time to look forward to the future. Well, not before getting a recap of everything that transpired in employment law in the last year. Or at least everything that we can fit in an hour long seminar. The webinar that broke attendance records last year is back again on December 4, 2018 at noon ET. This year, five employment law bloggers are presenting the “Best-Ever Year-End Employment…