As the year comes to a close, year-end performance reviews are in full swing. While these reviews may not be everyone’s favorite part of the job, they remain an important tool to support workplace development. This year, take a moment to revisit some best practices for conducting fair, effective performance reviews — and why these
Recently the Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued multiple items on national origin discrimination and anti-American bias. These materials signal that the agencies consider any national origin preference — including any actions favoring nonimmigrant visa holders — to be discrimination. Additionally, they make clear that multiple agencies view anti-American actions as an
In The Muppet Christmas Carol, the “Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come” escorts Ebenezeer Scrooge back to a graveyard after taking Scrooge through a disturbing future, prompting Scrooge to say, “Must we return to this place?” As we forecasted last week, much like the Dickensian apparition, so, too, does our blog return to the
Whether it’s literal clockwork, the turning of the leaves, or the beginning of the holiday hubbub, fall is a season of change. Employers are noticing, too. In conjunction with third-quarter earnings reports, several large employers, such as Target, Amazon, Nestlé, UPS, Verizon, and Novo Nordisk, have announced large layoffs.
When did you last update your employee handbook? With the end of the year nearing, now is a good time. Your policies should provide clear guidelines to your workforce about what you expect of them. Policies should also be a guide to HR regarding complaint procedures, discharge procedures, and even investigations if those are a
Like almost every federal agency, things have certainly changed at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the last 10 months. One of those significant changes has been the departure from investigation of claims asserting the “disparate impact” theory. A plaintiff in a disparate impact case, generally speaking, must show that a seemingly neutral policy
For those thinking that classifying workers as independent contractors is a cheaper way of doing business, beware. A California court just ordered a home healthcare business to pay $10 million in restitution and civil penalties for misclassifying its home care workers as independent contractors. The judgment in the case states that the company already was
Because our lawmakers were unable to resolve their differences over the federal budget, the United States federal government shutdown on October 1, 2025, and continues to be shutdown. As a result, approximately 750,000 employees are on unpaid leave, and the shutdown has created much uncertainly for various federal agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health
Employee activity on social media is a hot topic. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed a case in which a university employee was denied opportunities following a Twitter tirade. The court affirmed that the university did not discriminate against the employee, did not violate the First Amendment, and upheld the university’s actions. This
On September 19, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation regarding the use of H-1B nonimmigrant visas. That same day, the Department of Labor announced Project Firewall, an H-1B enforcement initiative. Below, we summarize these developments and how they may affect your business.
An H1-B visa is an employer-sponsored visa for foreign professionals.