ELI is a resource for the news media, providing expert commentary and opinion and informational resources on a variety of topics related to building a legal and ethical workplace. Here you’ll find links to recent articles written by or citing ELI experts.
Corporate Compliance Insights: 5 Steps for Building an Effective Compliance Program
March 2011
Thousands of laws and regulations both inside and outside the United States cover what’s recognized as the exploding field of compliance. Violations can lead to civil and criminal penalties, destroy lives and shatter the reputations and even the existence of non-complying organizations as we have seen in cases such as Enron and Arthur Andersen.
Often lost in the maze of processes, hotlines, internal departments, systems and matrixes set up to address compliance requirements is the fact that daily workplace behavior drives compliance. Are problems prevented, detected or corrected when they do occur – or allowed to spin out of control into potential crises?
Too often, organizations forget that busy people working in challenging times need to know what to do and what not to do related to compliance — with the same clarity as other job responsibilities they shoulder. Most importantly, they need to know and believe to their core that their employer sincerely wants to find out about problems and welcomes the concerns they bring forward. The following five steps can help achieve that desired goal.
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AOL: Retaliation in the Workplace Exceeds Race-Based Claims for First Time
January 2011
In an ideal world, everyone would just get along. There would be no bullies at schools or shootings at supermarkets, and of course there wouldn't be any conflicts in the workplace. But, unfortunately, in any place or situation where you mix together a lot of different people and their personalities, you are bound to occasionally encounter some issues.
Just ask Sandy Peddicord. She suffered from workplace demotion, harassment, and abuse because she spoke out about the discrimination that she and another woman experienced at Housby Mack Inc., under the hands of the owners and CEOs, Kevin and Kelly Housby.
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SHRM: The Importance of Being Civil
January 2011
Question: Why is workplace civility so important, and what can we do to increase it?
Answer: A number of white papers, books and studies in health care, government, manufacturing, professional services and other industrial sectors show the harm that can result when people are rude. The challenge for human resource professionals is to get leaders to understand that workplace civility is a strategic and operational imperative requiring little cost but generating huge bottom line and operational business results. Unfortunately, to many it sounds like a politically correct nightmare, or the latest fad, rather than a simple business issue that can be managed. A few simple steps can get leaders to think of civility in a new way:
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New York Times: N.F.L. Declined to View Favre Texts, Lawyer Says
January 2011
A lawyer for the massage therapists who sued Brett Favre and the Jets on Monday said N.F.L. investigators looking into a separate sexual harassment allegation declined his offer to view text messages and other documents that he said demonstrated Favre's misconduct.
The N.F.L. fined Favre $50,000 last week for what it said was a lack of honesty and failure to cooperate with an investigation into whether Favre, who was accused of sending lewd messages and photos to a Jets game-day hostess, violated league policy on workplace conduct.
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Human Resource Executive: Bias Claims on the Rise
December 2010
With the latest recession being hailed as the worst in U.S. history, the record-setting EEOC claims in two of the past three years make sense. But that doesn't make it any easier for HR leaders, who must both respond to current problems as well as prevent future ones.
During fiscal year 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received a record 99,922 job-bias charges -- the highest number in the agency's 45-year history. The 2009 EEOC bias claims numbered 93,277, only a slight drop from the previous record set in 2008 at 95,402.
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AOL Small Business: Surviving Office Holiday Parties: 5 Things You Need to Know
December 2010
Company celebrations can be a great way to bond with co-workers -- or make a total fool of yourself after a few drinks. How to survive your next office holiday party.
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Forbes: The Fair Labor Standards Act Has Become a Big Danger to Employers
November 2010
The Fair Labor Standards Act, passed in 1938 to protect the rights of workers, has recently become a bonanza for private attorneys and a potential disaster for employers. In a time of shifting job responsibilities, reclassification misunderstandings and economic uncertainty, private attorneys and the federal government have discovered long-ignored wage and hour provisions that can effectively raise workers' pay significantly.
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Human Resource Executive: Dealing with Controversy
August 2010
In any company emergency, HR leaders are best equipped to help craft solutions and dispense information. And one thing employees crave is information. To make sure your message is accepted by employees and to counter gossip is to establish HR as consistent, transparent and authoritative on the issue.
By Bob Calandra
HP stunned the business community earlier this month when it announced that its hugely successful top executive was resigning for falsifying $20,000 on his expense account, amid allegations of sexual harassment. Some pundits and corporate leaders have questioned HP's decision to force Hurd's resignation over an expense-account issue.
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Law360: To Avoid Wage-Hour Risks, Use Ounce Of Prevention
August 2010
Law360, New York (August 09, 2010) -- Ask almost any employment lawyer where case loads are growing fastest, and you probably won’t be surprised to hear about the explosive increase in the wage-and-hour arena.
Virtually any viewer who has switched on late-night television likely has been barraged by a string of attorneys’ wage-and-hour commercials and public service announcements from the U.S. Department of Labor’s “We Can Help” wage-and-hour awareness campaign. The growing public awareness of wage-and-hour claims may even trigger more lawsuits and even bigger resulting settlements.
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Lawyers Seek More Work-Life Balance; Firms Accommodate Them
August 2010
By day, Katie Birmingham is all about her inner foodie, as chef-owner of her Atlanta eatery, Noon Midtown. By night, Birmingham's a barrister for Counsel on Call, a law firm that gives its network of lawyers the choice to take on as much or as little legal work as desired.
Though she loves the law and has practiced since 2003, Birmingham loves cooking just as much, and left the big Atlanta firm Kilpatrick Stockton in 2008 to have the flexibility to do both.
Cooking is such a strong passion for me; it always has been," she said. The flexible scheduling with Counsel on Call "gives you a little bit more control over your time and, as a consequence, more control of your life."
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Human Resource Executive: DOL's Game-Changing FMLA Revisions
July 2010
New guidelines from the Department of Labor portend a change in how organizations may deal with which employees are eligible to take unpaid FMLA leave. What does HR need to know to remain compliant?
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor expanded the definition of "son and daughter" under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The result could be a game changer for employers on a few levels.
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