Blog - Expert Human Resources Consultants

Vaccination Accommodations and Undue Hardships

Covered employers who are working on plans to implement the Occupational Safety and Health Administrations (OSHAs) emergency temporary standard (ETS), or those employers who may not be subject to the ETS and who have adopted their own COVID-19 vaccine mandates should have policies and procedures in place to handle medical and religious objections from their … more »

OSHA Issues COVID-19 Workplace Vaccine Mandate or Weekly Testing

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued is emergency temporary standard (ETS), which was published in The Federal Register on November 5, 2021. (https://federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2021-23643/covid-19-vaccination-and-testing-emergency-temporary-standard) The rule requires businesses with at least 100 employees countrywide to mandate that their employees get vaccinated against COVID-19, or wear a mask and test for COVID-19 at a … more »

Reasonable Accommodations Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Its Amendments Act (ADAAA)

Reasonable accommodations have been in many employer conversations lately as they have navigated pandemic-related issues, such as wearing masks, working from home, and mandating or incentivizing vaccinations. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Its Amendments Act (ADAAA), private employers and state and local governments must engage with qualified applicants and employees with disabilities in … more »

An Overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Its Amendments Act (ADAAA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became effective on January 1, 1991. While the ADA itself does not list all impairments that are covered, it prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, communications, public accommodations, and participating in government programs and services. The ADA provides a three-prong definition of disability as 1. a … more »

What is the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)?

In 1935, Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the U.S. economy. The NLRA protects most employees, whether their employer is unionized … more »

Who is the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)?

The National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB” or “Board”) is a federal agency that oversees and protects an employee’s union activity and employee rights. The NLRB investigates unfair labor practice complaints made against both employers and unions, typically via employee or union member complaints. As an employer it’s important to understand your organizations legal rights … more »

The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and Audits

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws applicable to businesses, job seekers, workers, retirees, contractors, and grantees. These laws set basic labor standards. Employers who violate these basic labor standards may be subject to a DOL audit. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) administers and enforces laws … more »

Who is the Department of Labor and What Do They Do?

The Department of Labor (DOL) is a cabinet-level federal agency with three overall functions that support the American labor force. Martin J. Walsh was sworn in as the 29th Secretary of Labor on March 23, 2021. He and his agency aim to protect the rights of workers and retirees, provide job training, and provide statistics … more »

Creative Remote Employee Benefits

While the number of employers that have allowed employees to work remotely has grown in recent years, the pandemic forced the work-from-home concept into reality for many organizations. As such, countless employees have grown used to the benefits of working from home, such as saving time on their commute and having a better work/life balance. … more »

Remote Work Arrangements: A New Norm?

Remote work, telework, telecommuting, and work from home (WFH) are just a few titles that different employers have used to describe employees who are not working within their physical workplace. While working from home has become popular this past year during the pandemic, many organizations, especially those with employees in more than one country, utilized … more »