Human Resources Compliance

It’s an all too common situation: an employee’s medical condition results in permanent restrictions that prevent the employee from performing essential job functions that she used to be able to do.   It is not reasonable to modify the job so the employee can keep the position.   There is a vacancy in another department for which

On November 22, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Department of Labor from implementing and enforcing the new overtime rule as scheduled on December 1, 2016.

The new rule more than doubled the minimum salary an employee needed to qualify as exempt from overtime under

Iowa law has fairly strict limits on an employer’s right to conduct drug and alcohol testing.  One area in which testing is allowed, however, is when there is a workplace accident.  An employer may require an employee to undergo post-accident drug or alcohol testing if the employee is injured and requires medical treatment, or if

The headline was Fox News agreed to pay $20 million to its former anchor Gretchen Carlson to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit against its former CEO Roger Ailes.   This is an extraordinary settlement, and not just because of the amount.   Fox News agreed to a public settlement (usually they are confidential); publicly apologized to

Most of us think about workplace accommodations as modifications that will allow an employee with a disability to perform his job.  Without the accommodation, doing the job may be difficult or impossible. Whether that means modifying the job duties, changing the schedule, or providing an assistive device, the ultimate objective is to help the employee

How to best accommodate pregnant employees is a frequent challenge Iowa employers face.    Pregnant employees may be entitled to protection under the laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, as well as those requiring equal treatment based upon gender and disability.  Many employers have tried to walk this fine line with policies that allow

A federal district court in Michigan recently granted summary judgment for the plaintiff, (you read that correctly), ruling that the employer was liable for disability discrimination as a matter of law. (Lafata v. Dearborn Heights Sch. Dist. No.7 (E.D. Mich. 12/11/2013)).   A plaintiff hardly ever files for summary judgment in an employment case, let