When a letter comes in the mail with a return address of the EEOC, I think we can all agree that it’s not likely to be good news. But there are a few changes that can be done to reduce or avoid EEOC claims all together. The EEOC harassment [READ MORE ...]
Is Your Company Outsourcing or Insourcing Your HR Investigations? According to an article in Bloomberg Law, (Article: Surge in Outside Workplace Investigations in #MeToo Milieuir) there has been a surge in the number of workplace investigations being conducted by third-party investigators. Along with the high level, high dollar cases we [READ MORE ...]
There are several reasons why HR professionals say they don’t need an HR investigation software, but there are a few that I hear time and time again. You may even find yourself using one or more of the reasons below. And that’s understandable with all the new technologies entering [READ MORE ...]
At almost every job I have ever had, I was told during orientation or in the handbook that HR (and in some cases, management) had an open-door policy. And yes, the policies that I wrote as an HR professional contained that verbiage as well. But what does it mean? [READ MORE ...]
When asked about their current workplace investigation process, most CEOs will respond with, “HR has that under control.” To which I respond, “That’s good. When was the last time you talked with HR about it?” For those who responded that they have had a recent conversation, it generally went [READ MORE ...]
In this time of daily reports of long term patterns of sexual harassment in the workplace, I have spoken to many HR professionals who feel they are walking a tightrope. On one hand, they are in support of employees bringing forth harassment issues to be dealt with appropriately. And [READ MORE ...]
With as often as you hear of new sexual harassment cases in the news, you may wonder why I refer to Sexual Harassment as the silent epidemic. Unfortunately, the stories that make the news often leave the public feeling as though this only happens in big business and tv [READ MORE ...]
When a company is in the news for paying out at large harassment discrimination settlement, the first thought is that they did not conduct an appropriate investigation. But that is not always the case. Last week the EEOC ended an investigation into claims of harassment by employees in two [READ MORE ...]
We all know that the laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) make it illegal to fire, demote, harass, or otherwise retaliate against either job applicants or employees based upon the individual doing any of the following: filing a charge of discrimination, complaining to their employer about discrimination on the job, or [READ MORE ...]
The answer seems to depend on who you ask. Some will give you the definition of what requires an investigation under harassment discrimination laws. Others will say that you should only conduct an investigation when it is absolutely clear that an investigation is legally required, in order to avoid [READ MORE ...]
Looking back on 2016, I was saddened by the onslaught of news stories covering lawsuits and settlements related to sexual harassment and discrimination. Of course there were the big suits that received most of the media attention, Fox News, Chipotle Grill, Mc Donald’s Corp., etc. But it seemed that [READ MORE ...]
With the release of the EEOC Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for 2017 – 2021, it is time to take a look at your Complaint, Investigation and Prevention processes and procedures. The SEP outlines the EEOC’s principal areas of focus for the next four years. According to the plan, the [READ MORE ...]
