Participants at the January EIHRA (Eastern Iowa Human Resource Association) Meeting had a great opportunity to keep abreast of legislative changes that may affect their HR practices.
The National Labor Relations board has been making updates, specifically proposing a rule whereby employers would be required to post information detailing the rights of employees to join and participate in unions. This rule would also require employers to create written classifications of their employees, justifying the reasons why exempt employees are considered exempt. The creation of such documentation will undoubtedly result in an increased workload for HR professionals.
Several other topics were of interest as well. For example, the recent “facebook firing” case has had a development. The hearing will be brought to Federal Court on February 8th. This case has gleaned much attention from the media, and has been in the works for over a year. Begun in December 2009, the Connecticut case covers an accusation of whether or not social media sites, and what users post on their profiles, constitute protected concerted activity under NLRB protection. This is the first time the NLRB has come to bat stating that social network postings that deride employers constitute protected concerted activity.
There was also a review of GINA- the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. This act, implemented in 2008, intended to prohibit employer discrimination based on genetic information. Any employer with more than 15 employees may not solicit genetic information in order to make employment decisions. The act has several exceptions discussed at the meeting, including “water-cooler” disclosures, and publicly available information. The take away message from GINA is that as long as you are not probing applicants or employees for genetic information, requiring genetic tests for training, promotions, or referrals, and as long as you stay ADA compliant, you will be GINA compliant.
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Tags: human resources consulting, human resources management
