Posted on Thu, Feb 23, 2012
Bourgon HR Solutions is proud to announce that HR veteran Michelle Super is now consulting with our clients in the the Twin Cities area.
As an HR Consultant for companies in a variety of industries, Michelle has created strategies, procedures and policies to produce a successful HR approach for clients.
Michelle’s experience includes employee relations, performance management, conflict resolution, training and recruiting. Michelle has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Human Resource Management and is a member of her local Chamber of Commerce.
As a 12 year HR veteran, Michelle has been very successful in resolving a wide range of Human Resource challenges and will bring that experience to support the Bourgon HR Solutions client base.
Have an HR question or challenge that your company is facing? Contact Michelle Super today!
Posted on Mon, Dec 05, 2011
Reduction in force is the difficult way to reduce staff expense but doing so, can cause employees to file discrimination claims based on characteristics such as race, age, gender, or disability. To avoid such issues, employers need create a plan and follow specific guidelines prior to inducing a reduction in force.
First, consider these alternatives to help work around the issue:
- Hiring freeze
- Temporary shut down
- Exit incentive programs
- Reduce work hours and pay reductions
Decide which alternatives are best for your business. This may include involving an outsourced HR consultant or by asking their most trusted employees.
After considering these alternatives, the next step is to understand the legal framework for reduction in force. The law governing force reduction is governed by various federal, state, and local laws. Some important laws to abide by are the WARN Act (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act), FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act), and ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act). Employers need to understand these laws so they can work with the issues and reduce the legal risk.
The next important guideline to follow is identifying the business need for the reduction. Identifying the business reason for the reduction can also help employers select the appropriate layoff criteria.
The last step is to plan the delivery of the message. It is very important the employer communicates to the management, affected employees, and to others.
Effective downsizing management, prior to a force reduction, can be very beneficial to companies who want to avoid making costly mistakes.
Employers also need to always remember that their employees are their company’s key asset; businesses need to look at all different alternatives before making any big decisions. But if a reduction in force is required by the plans of the company, be sure to carfully take into consideration these guidelines.
Learn more about Bourgon HR Solutions and its approach to effective downsizing managment.
Posted on Mon, Nov 21, 2011
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination “because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin.” But in light of Title VII’s broad remedial purpose of ending discrimination in the workplace, courts increasingly have construed this provision to protect employees from discrimination based on their associations with and advocacy for individuals of a different race.
In these cases, courts have reasoned that this discrimination is based on “such individual’s race” because the cause of the discrimination is the difference in races between the employee and the protected third party.
While courts generally agree that these associational discrimination claims may be brought on the basis of interracial spousal, romantic or familial relationships, courts are split over whether and to what extent arguably less significant relationships such as friendships or co-worker relationships support such claims. Many courts require a more finite degree of association than mere friendship or collegiality within the workplace.
But not with the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In Barrett et al v. Whirlpool Corporation, the Sixth Circuit joined the Seventh Circuit and announced that the degree of the association is irrelevant to whether a plaintiff is eligible for the protection of Title VII under an associational discrimination theory.
As a result of Barrett, the class of potentially protected employees has expanded for employment discrimination lawsuits. Employers should remain mindful that white employees, as well as non-white employees, may bring discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII.
Employers should alert supervisors to pay attention to workplace comments regarding interracial relationships and reporting behavior in particular. Employers should also train supervisors to take appropriate corrective action when these comments are brought to their attention.
With its decision in Barrett, the Sixth Circuit will potentially open the door to many more association-based discrimination claims. However, in doing so, the Court carefully limited the evidence relevant to such claims to only those remarks that attack the interracial nature of the relationship itself, as opposed to the race of the plaintiff or of the plaintiff’s spouse, child, friend or co-worker.
Thus, although this Court’s decision arguably expanded the protection of Title VII, its judicious analysis ensures that associational discrimination claims will remain moored to Title VII’s stated purpose of eliminating discrimination in the workplace “because of such individual’s race.”
Posted on Wed, Nov 16, 2011
A furlough, typically defined as a temporary layoff for work, is often considered by employers as a layoff alternative. It's important to understand exactly what a furlough is -- and how it's implemented -- in order to maintain your hr legal compliance.
Furloughs allow employers to keep people employed and maintain institutional knowledge during a time of financial hardship. They can result in much-needed cost savings without having to incur financial and emotional costs of layoffs and can leave an organization better prepared to take advantage of an anticipated upswing in financial performance.
What is a Furlough?
A furlough is either a voluntary or involuntary unpaid leave of absence from employment. In the private sector, assuming that the targeted workforce terms and conditions of employment are not governed by a collective bargaining agreement or individual payment contracts, employers may choose to utilize furloughs as a means to saving money for their company through planned or emergency procedures to reduce payroll costs. This reduction is normally effectuated on an hourly, daily or weekly basis.
How does this differ from layoffs?
Generally a workforce layoff constitutes a group termination and the employees selected to participate in the layoff are usually not expected to return to work; in contrast, furloughs contemplate that the employees will remain with the company but at a reduced labor cost.
How are furloughs implemented?
For private employers there are no special implementation procedures. Rather, furloughs can be planned as a means of saving money or utilized in an unexpected emergency. However, an employer is wise to provide employees with an advanced notice. Many states require such an advanced notice under the general notice requirements of their wage payment laws and some specify amount of notice for their reduction in compensation.
Contact Bourgon HR Solutions if you have any questions regarding the HR legal compliance of your furloughs and layoffs. This will help to protect you from claims of unlawful termination of employment.
Posted on Wed, Oct 26, 2011
With discrimination claims continuing to rise as aging employees are claiming unlawful termination of employment, employers are taking a long look at their policies and training programs.
Preventing age discrimination in the workplace requires not only that strong HR policies and training programs are in place but also that employees know and understand the rules, particularly in these continually troubled economic times.
“We’re seeing an increase in age discrimination claims because of the volume of reductions in force that are occurring throughout the country,” said Janine Yancey, HR Lawyer and CEO of Emtrain. “Any different group can make a claim that they are adversely affected by reductions in the workforce, but there do seem to be more age discrimination claims than others, in large part due to age being associated with disproportionately higher salaries.”
It is time to update diversity programs. HR says it’s a difficult challenge to balance three to four culturally different generations in today’s workplace.
“HR needs to issue policies in a way that whatever they are saying within the organization will not have a disproportionate effect on older workers,” says Yancey. “Although diversity programs may already exist in an organization, they should be updated to include generational diversity.”
Posted on Mon, Oct 03, 2011
Bourgon HR Solutions is proud to announce that we're partnering with our friends at Associated Insurance Agents of Minnesota for a seminar on focused on the importance of the small business employee handbook.
We'll be providing HR training on updating or creating an effective employee handbook or manual.
Too many companies take a band-aid approach to fixing the cracks in their HR policies, and the employee handbook ends up leaving the employer open to potential litigation.
We're thrilled to be providing this seminar for Associated Insurance Agents, Inc. and their clients in September. We'll be training them how to:
- clearly communicate company expectations
- create an affirmative defense against litigation
- ensure compliance with state and federal requirements
If you have an interest in having Bourgon HR Solutions conduct a workshop for your company on creating anemployee handbook, please contact us here.