Roundup: Worker misclassification; Religious accommodation; AI in employment decisions; Reverse discrimination; Discrimination and harm

NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2.16

April 22, 2024

Salary.com Compensation and Pay Equity Law Review

 

Our editor, employment lawyer Heather Bussing, is tracking legislation, cases, and analysis to give you the latest critical HR topics.

 

This week we're answering the questions:

  • Can hiring contractors instead of employees be unfair competition:
  • Do employers have to accommodate all religious beliefs?
  • Why are legislatures so bad at technology?
  • Do we want to regulate AI or people?
  • Why is reverse discrimination a weird concept?
  • Are we really talking about how much harm a discriminatory decision has to cause?
April 16th, 2024
When workers who should be employees are hired as independent contractors, they don't get benefits, payroll contributions to state unemployment and disability programs, aren't subject to wage/hour laws, and have far fewer civil rights protections against discrimination and harassment. Employment laws generally apply to employees.
April 17th, 2024
Before any legal protections kick in, including those based on religion, there has to be an adverse action by the employer that causes unfair treatment or harm to the employee. Being paid to sit in a training that promotes nondiscrimination against people who are protected by law is not harmful—even if you don't like it or approve.
April 18th, 2024
As Congress considers bills to regulate AI in employment, can we have some actual accountability instead of more processes that don't help anyone? Here are some of the problems and why they won't work.
April 19th, 2024
I almost never disagree with Robin Shea. And I don't really disagree here, except maybe about using a geese idiom in a case about a sex toy business. I also had no idea how to tell goose genders apart and made the mistake of looking it up. Let's just say it's weird.
April 22th, 2024
In Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, the Supreme Court took on the question of how much harm does an employee need to show in a discrimination claim. This is a ridiculous question.
Discrimination is fundamentally dehumanizing because the core message in discrimination is that the decision maker believes in stereotypes or is biased because of factors the employee or candidate has no control over. It is fundamentally unfair and wrong. It is also horrible to experience.

It's Easy to Get Started

Transform compensation at your organization and get pay right — see how with a personalized demo.