Janet Yellen, Chair of the Federal Reserve and arguably the most powerful woman in the world, is best known for her role in U.S. monetary policy. But in a recent speech, she tackled a totally different subject – women’s economic progress over the past century. Her speech, So We All Can Succeed: 125 Years of Women’s Participation in the Economy, is a…
If you have ever purchased a car, you already know the many headaches associated with price negotiation. You may purchase the car of your dreams only to find out two days later that a friend bought exactly the same car from the same dealer for thousands less. After a bit of internet research, you may also find out that in…
Employees around the country who are being discriminated against on a prohibited basis, such as sex or race, may bring race discrimination, sex discrimination, age discrimination, and disability discrimination claims in federal court under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act. But employees who work…
The answer to the question is YES. A fired employee may be a whistleblower and file a Federal and/or State False Claims Act case. By doing so, the employee would play a key role in assisting the government in uncovering fraud and prosecuting companies who commit fraud. The employee may also be able to receive a share of the government’s…
In the past year, lawmakers in Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, New York City, and Philadelphia have passed “salary history laws.” These new laws make it illegal for employers to ask job applicants about their current salaries or the salaries they earned at previous jobs. To put it simply, these laws take your salary history off the table. Employers shouldn’t ask about…
I originally published this post in advance of a panel event commemorating Equal Pay Day. The event involved a lively discussion on the gender pay gap, as well as how best to communicate the issue of equal pay in our current political climate. For additional information on the gender pay gap, follow this blog! For additional information on other WBA…
Uber. Lyft. Instacart. Caviar. Homejoy. It seems hard a month passes without news about a lawsuit alleging that these on-demand gig-economy services are ripping off their workers. Uber and Lyft alone have been sued in dozens of lawsuits alleging that they misclassified their drivers as independent contractors. Some drivers who sued Uber reached a class action settlement valued up to $100 million,…
Tax Day 2017 is fast-approaching, and of course, we are once again reminded that nothing in life is certain, except death and taxes . . . and tax fraud. The tax fraud problem is so pervasive that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) publishes an annual “dirty dozen” list of the most pervasive tax scams. This year’s list is available at…
Breastfeeding employees frequently encounter barriers in the workplace that impede their ability to pump on the job. Horror stories abound of women who are denied a clean, private space to pump or who are shamed and penalized for pumping at work. Thanks to the advent of federal and state legislation and an emerging body of case law, nursing mothers, and…
More than 90% of employers rely on criminal background checks to make hiring decisions, but this common practice raises numerous concerns. First, there are practical issues about whether background checks actually provide employers with meaningful information. For example, recent research indicates that after a certain amount of time, individuals who have committed a crime are no more likely to re-offend than an…