Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

July 16, 2012

32 view(s)

USCIS Publishes Employers' Guide for Using the E-Verify Online Tool

The United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) has just issued a new publication to aid employers in correctly using the online E-Verify system to check if job applicants (or employees) possess the supporting documents to work legally in the United States. According to the USCIS: The E-Verify Self-Assessment Guide for Direct Access Users is designed to assist participating employe...

July 16, 2012

24 view(s)

Most New Jobs in Post-Recession Era Going to Men

Since the onset of the Great Recession in 2008 and a subsequent up-and-down recovery, men have accounted for 80 percent of net new jobs, according to statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). A lot of the statistical hiring has been related to the manufacturing sector, which is heavily male-dominated, but men seeking work after layoffs have also been moving into fields tradit...

July 13, 2012

26 view(s)

National Restaurant Association Sues DOL Over Tip Pooling Regulation

The National Restaurant Association, joined by several restaurants and trade groups in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals jurisdiction, has filed suit against the Department of Labor over a regulation that forbids tip-pooling arrangements that include back-of-the-house (kitchen) workers. The 9th Circuit Court in Cumbie v. Woody Woo Inc. in 2010 ruled that restaurants are free to share tips with k...

July 12, 2012

39 view(s)

EEOC and Family Dollar Stores (7,200 Nationwide) Agree to Mediate

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE:FDO) today announced the signing of a National Universal Agreement to Mediate (NUAM) to informally resolve workplace disputes through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) prior to an EEOC investigation or potential litigation. The NUAM applies to all Family Dollar establishments throughout the United States. ...

July 12, 2012

31 view(s)

Summer's Here, But No Heat Standard from OSHA

Though the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched a heat danger educational and outreach program, and has even issued a smartphone app to calculate an affected worker's heat index and provide safety tips, the agency has no heat standard in the works, though one was recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in 1972. When press...

July 9, 2012

26 view(s)

CDC Publishes Online Small Business Resource Portal

CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published an online Small Business Resource Guide that serves as a handy, easy-to-use portal for finding information about the laws, regulations and other responsibilities of doing business in the United States. The portal links to other government sites, including some state sites that feature unique safety laws, and is broken down into ...

July 9, 2012

62 view(s)

Incentive Programs May Disqualify Companies from OSHA'S VPP

In 1982, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) established its Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), which exempts "model workplaces" from routine inspections. Model workplaces are those that report industry-leading low injury rates. However, between 2000 and 2011, as OSHA's inspection staff was reduced and VPP membership requirements were relaxed, some 80 workers...

July 3, 2012

49 view(s)

EEOC Ogling Coffee Chain's Practice of Hiring Only the Attractive

Acting without a complaint from any employee past or present, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is investigating Marylou's Coffee, a Massachusetts chain, because it has a reputation for hiring only attractive women to be its servers. Looks, however, are not a protected class under any federal legislation. Only the District of Columbia has established "personal appearan...

July 2, 2012

38 view(s)

Transportation Firm Settles for $11M Over 'Hangman's Nooses' Discrimination

An $11 million consent decree entered in a Chicago federal court has ended the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC's) race harassment and discrimination lawsuit against a major transportation company. Magistrate Judge Susan E. Cox granted preliminary approval of the decree. In its suit, the EEOC charged that Yellow Transportation, Inc., and YRC, Inc. subjected African-Amer...

June 28, 2012

28 view(s)

Office for Civil Rights Publishes HIPAA Audit Protocol

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been conducting HIPAA privacy, security and breach audits since early this year and today released the protocol that is has being using to inform the audit process. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act in 2009 required HHS to conduct audits to determine how well ...

263 of 329

Options

Recent Articles

Practical articles on HR, Safety, compliance, and people operations—written for real businesses, not legal textbooks.

EEOC Rescinds Permissible Affirmative Action Guidance

On June 30, 2026, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) officially rescinded two longstanding documents relating to permissible affirmative action. The documents were part of the EEOC's guidance on affirmative action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

DOJ Challenges EEOC's Stance on Disparate Impact Claims

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently issued a legal opinion that may signal major changes ahead in federal workplace discrimination enforcement. In a June 9, 2026 memorandum, the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) expressed the opinion that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's...

Department of Labor Issues 2026 Civil Penalty Update: No Adjustments This Year

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently published its annual update announcement regarding federal civil monetary penalties under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act. In a notice published in the Federal Register on May 27th, 2026, the DOL announced that no penalty increases...

U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters on Overtime Exemptions, Bonuses, and Compensable Time

On May 29th, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released several new opinion letters addressing key wage & hour issues. Specifically, one of the four documents informed readers whether an exempt employee could perform additional work in a secondary role at an hourly rate and still be eligible...

EEOC Issues New National Enforcement Plan Through 2029

On June 4th, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a new 2025-2029 National Enforcement Plan (NEP). The NEP sets the EEOC’s specific subject-matter priorities from June through fiscal year 2029.

View All Articles