Working Knowledge

On April 15, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7) by a 217-210 vote. The legislation, if enacted, would require employers to prove that pay disparities between men and women are job-related. The bill would, among other provisions: Require employers to show that pay disparities between men and women are…

A recent survey* was conducted by Willis Towers Watson to understand US employer’s stance on vaccinating their workforce from Covid-19. The results identified numerous varying actions employers are taking and/or are willing to take: 60% have communicated to employees the value of vaccines; another 35% are planning or considering doing so 35% have developed policies…

The COVID-related shift to remote work has caused many to consider relocating to reduce cost of living, experience a change of scenery or improve their living conditions. In recent studies conducted by Robert Half, more than half of workers said they would consider moving to a different city if their company offered long-term remote arrangements.…

Earlier this month the American Staffing Association (ASA) published its assessment of the most in-demand, hard-to-fill jobs for 2021. Despite the record levels of job losses related to COVID-19 (in 2020 job postings fell 32% from 2019), there is a significant shortage of workers in key areas. To determine the most economically vital jobs for…

A survey by Nexthink, which provides software to help manage digital experiences, demonstrates that IT organizations have not deployed effective tools for tracking the digital experience of remote workers. The survey found that, although 96% of technology executives state that measuring and managing the digital employee experience is an essential priority, a third of technology…

The Internet Health Report 2020 Report issued by the Mozilla Foundation expresses concerns regarding human cloud platforms that deny gig workers access to their personal data and to determinants in independent contractor classification. The report states, “workers, for the most part, have no way of knowing exactly how platforms determine prices, nor can they opt…

Ten U.S. senators have asked the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate employers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine-learning, and other hiring technologies that may result in discrimination. In a joint letter, they have asked the EEOC to proactively analyze AI-based candidate evaluation tools to determine if the use of AI introduces discriminatory…

In December, the U.S. Department of Labor issued an update to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Site-Specific Targeting (SST) Directive inspection program. If approved pending the Biden Administration review, the changes will include: A new targeting category that uses a three-year data collection range to target sites with consistent injury and illness rate increases during…

The White House issued a memorandum halting all non-emergency rulemaking and regulatory activity pending review by the new administration. This applies to the new Independent Contractor Final Rule issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) in early January. The rule was set to take effect on March 8. The National Law Review has stated that it…

As uncertainty continues regarding the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business growth, business leaders struggle to set 2021 pay levels. At the start of the pandemic, one-fourth of companies reduced pay (most of them temporarily) according to research by Mercer. Sixty-eight percent offered merit pay increases and 79% paid out bonuses as planned,…