WIRTW #500 (the “500th” edition)

Photo by Alexas_Fotos, via Pixabay

October 12, 2007. I posted my first ever edition of WIRTW (What I Read This Week). It looked a little different back then.

It’s since morphed into what I hope is a useful weekly resource for employers to find the best labor and employment blog posts each week.

Also, holy heck! Ten and a half years and 499 installments later! Who’d have thunk it‽

Thank to everyone for reading along all these weeks and year, and to the other great bloggers who’ve published content that I’ve shared. I literally could not write this column without y’all.

Here’s this week’s list of what I read this week:

In the era of #metoo, let’s not lose focus on the “me”s other than sex

Photo by Luke Braswell on Unsplash

We’ve all done a lot of talking over the past six months about sexual harassment. We should not forget, however, that our laws make harassment unlawful if it’s based on membership in any protected class.

A federal jury in Detroit just provided employers a very real reminder of this fact.

It tagged Ford Motor Co. with a $16.8 million verdict. The plaintiff, a former Ford engineer, proved that the automaker created a hostile work environment based his Arab background.

Does your company need an Affirmative Action Plan?

Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom from Pexels

Compliance is a tricky beast, especially when you don’t know what laws your organization is supposed to be complying with.

Thus, every now and again it’s worthwhile to take a topic and break it down to it’s most basic level. Today is one of those days, and the topic is Affirmative Action Plans. 

As in, do you even know if your organization needs one?

It’s as simple as answering these four questions.

Supreme Court puts the breaks on the narrow constructions of FLSA exemptions

Photo by Coolcaesar (Own work),
via Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday, in a narrow 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that automobile service advisors are exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements.

The exemption applies to “salesmen … primarily engaged in … servicing automobiles.” The majority broadly defined these terms to hold that the plaintiffs were exempt.

And while this aspect of the decision is interesting to automobile repair shops and car dealerships, it's the opinion’s broader implications that are more interesting to me.

The 6th nominee for the “worst employer of 2018” is … the sadistic sergeant

Thomas Schiermeyer was already a recruit for the Seaside Park, New Jersey, Police Department, when he applied to the Police Academy for a promotion to an entry-level Officer. 

The application process he alleges in his lawsuit is one that I’ve certainly never seen before, and one to which no employee ever should be subjected.

Don’t sleep on verifying reasonable accommodations

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

George Hirmiz, a front-desk clerk at a Travelodge Hotel, was caught on video sleeping in the hotel lobby while a fight broke out among its guests. After the hotel fired him, he claimed disability discrimination. His disability? An alleged illness that he had contracted from long-term exposure to high levels of electromagnetic voltage at the hotel.

The 7th Circuit had little difficultly affirming the dismissal of his lawsuit:

What does it mean to have “work/life balance”?

What’s your definition of “work/life balance”?

To me, work/life balance means that I have the flexibility to tend to the needs of family when the need arises, and otherwise work when and where I am able.

• No school bus this morning? I’ll get to the office at 9 am instead of 7:15.
• Doctor’s appointment? No worries. I’ll leave the office at 3 and finish up what needs to be done tonight.
• Bad weather? It’s not productive to waste two hours in traffic. I’ll work from home.
• Early evening gig for the kids? I’ll pick them up from school.