HR - General

On April 20, 2016, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court, Southern District of California against Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. The lawsuit was initiated by a former employee whose W-2 was allegedly disclosed as part of a phishing scam that occurred in late March 2016 a

Littler's Workplace Policy Institute Insider Report details key labor, employment, and benefits news and events at the federal, state, local, and global levels. The May edition of the Insider Report discusses recent agency rulemaking, legislative maneuvers to block new and pending rules, and state e

The ROI on using big data makes a clear case for the growing use of Big Data in organizations. Human Resource departments are using data analytics to improve the process of selecting and hiring employees and to create a more objective method for conducting performance evaluations. Companies can also

This month's edition of Littler's Workplace Policy Institute Insider Report includes articles on the Administration's push to finalize rules before the November elections, legislative and litigation steps to thwart those efforts, and state bills and ordinances that have advanced in recent weeks. The

In 2011, the United Nations adopted the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“UN Guiding Principles”), which provide non-binding guidelines on how employers should conduct their business activities to provide appropriate respect for internationally recognized human rights. Recently, v

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-to-3 decision, has ruled that federal law enforcement may not freeze an accused’s assets needed to pay criminal defense lawyers if the assets are not linked to a crime. Luis v. United States, No. 14-419 (Mar. 30, 2016).

A month after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, President Obama has appointed Merrick B. Garland to fill the High Court vacancy. Judge Garland currently is Chief Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He is viewed by many as a more centrist choice for the position

Recognizing the growing number of connected and interconnected devices, a bipartisan group of Senators recently introduced a bill which would convene a working group of Federal stakeholders to provide recommendations to Congress on how to appropriately plan for and encourage the proliferation of the

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) gave the fintech online payment sector a “wake up call” with an enforcement action against a Des Moines start up digital payment provider, Dwolla, Inc. (“Dwolla”).

Littler's Workplace Policy Institute® (WPI™) presents the Insider Report, a monthly newsletter detailing key labor, employment, and benefits policy developments at the federal, state, local and global levels. This month's edition includes articles on federal agency priorities for the remainder of Pr

Writing an open letter to the CEO of your company about your pay may go viral on the internet and draw a firestorm of commentary, but California’s new Equal Pay Act and a recent decision from one federal Court of Appeal may limit what an employer can do in response to such criticism and commentary.

A recent case from the Northern District of California raises the importance of actively engaging with employees to coordinate the search for documents and electronically-stored information to comply with the employer’s discovery obligations. At the same time, the Court ruled that an employer cannot

As NCAA basketball tournament season approaches, employers may be wondering if they can monitor employees at work to see how much time they are spending checking their brackets, or for other purposes. There are many reasons companies monitor employees, including boosting productivity, dissuading cyb

The federal Departments of Homeland Security, Defense and Justice and The Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued guidance on the implementation of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA). Among the four guidance documents issued by these agencies is one outlining the

The U.S. Court Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled that statutory damages under the Stored Communications Act (SCA) are not available in a case where the plaintiff did not incur any actual damages.

Each year at the beginning of tax season, the IRS releases the “Dirty Dozen,” a list of twelve tax scams to be mindful of when individuals are filing their taxes. This list is something to consider sharing with colleagues or friends within your organization.

For the last three decades, Justice Antonin Scalia served as a stanch and reliable conservative voice on the U.S. Supreme Court. While his rulings could be controversial at times, he remained widely liked and respected, even among the more liberal members of the Court. His unexpected death over the

The legal concept of “joint employment” exists when a person is employed by two or more entities, such that the employers are responsible, individually and jointly, to the employee for compliance with a particular statute or regulation. While the legal theory is not new, the increased attention and

As we previously reported, the EU and U.S. reached agreement last week on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield to replace the invalidated EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Program for transatlantic data transfers. While the announcement of the Privacy Shield is a relief to the thousands of companies who relied on the Safe

Performance reviews are a necessary step in the path to ensuring a team of productive employees. However, as illustrated by a series of recent lawsuits filed by Yahoo employees against the internet giant, performance reviews are not without risks to the employers who administer them. In one such sui