Evil HR Lady

The EEOC filed suit against Del Taco due to sexual harassment complaints from “young female employees.” They claim that at least three male supervisors harassed the young women. The female employees filed complaints and faced retaliation instead of relief.

On September 18, McDonald’s employees in 10 cities will walk out in protest against the working conditions and sexual harassment. This stems from a May, 10, action where women and girls filed EEOC complaints against McDonald’s saying they had been sexually harassed at work. The EEOC has not opted to take up the case against McDonald’s at this point, but that doesn’t mean they won’t. The EEOC tends to take its time before making a decision on which cases to take.

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board issued a new ruling (open to comment right now) that said they were returning to the 2015 standard of joint employer status. This means that it’s less likely that an employee suing a Del Taco or McDonald’s franchise will be able to access the deep pockets of the corporation, even if they win.

To keep reading, click here: Del Taco and McDonald’s Face Sexual Harassment Claims–Is Fast Food a Haven for Harassers?

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Did you know you can lose a sexual harassment lawsuit even when no one was actually sexually harassed and the court agrees that no sexual harassment took place? You can, if you retaliate against the person who made the complaint. Sure, it won’t be the sexual harassment complaint that you lose on–but retaliation charges can be just as expensive.

How you treat someone who makes a complaint is critical and you have to be careful to not retaliate.

To read more about it, click here: What is Workplace Retaliation?

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On a normal day you might stop at Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee, drop off a package at the UPS Store, get a late lunch at McDonalds, make a quick phone call to Kumon to check on your child’s latest test scores, get your hair cut at Great Clips, and get your oil changed at Midas. What do all of these companies have in common? They just breathed a collective sigh of relief today at the National Labor Relations Board’s announcement of a new joint employer standard.

Every one of these businesses operates as franchises. That is, instead of one corporate office owning all the stores, they sell the rights to open a store with that name. The list of businesses that operate as franchises is almost endless.

Under an Obama era ruling, the joint employer standard was changed to make it more likely that the corporate office would be equally liable for managing employees. That means that if the person who owns the McDonald’s franchise in your neighborhood fails to pay overtime, the corporate entity is also responsible. This new proposed rule takes things back to how they were pre-2015.

To keep reading, click here: This New Labor Ruling Could Be a Huge Win for McDonald’s and Other Franchise Chains

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Turnover is expensive and we all want our best employees to stay in our business, right? Of course, right. Except that sometimes you want even the best and the brightest to go out to other companies. While I’ve advocated this for years, I was somewhat surprised to see The Harvard Business Review do the same.

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“The whole world is only about money, nothing else.”

That quote comes from Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, one of the many women who accused former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves not only of sexual harassment but of sexual assault. Moonves stepped down earlier this week after The New Yorker ran a Ronan Farrow detailing the accusations against Moonves.

Farrow, you may recall, won a Pulitzer Prize for his expose of Harvey Weinstein’s horrible sexual behavior.

How do horrible men like this get and stay in power? Their acts weren’t mysterious and unknown. Weinstein had a clause in his contract that said if he “treated someone improperly in violation of the company’s Code of Conduct,” he would only have to pay the legal fees and would otherwise be in the clear. In other words, the board knew exactly what he was doing and they were like, “eh, he makes a lot of money.”

Hopefully, #metoo has brought that to an end. We never should have ignored bad behavior from star earners. And now, it’s time for companies to make it clear: No matter how much money you bring in, you must behave properly at work.

We need revised contracts

Most Americans are “at-will” employees. This means they can quit or be fired for any reason or no reason, as long as that reason isn’t prohibited by law. So, for instance, you can fire someone for spilling spaghetti sauce on her blouse, but you can’t fire someone for their race, gender, pregnancy, etc.

To keep reading, click here: It’s Time To Demand Ethical Behavior from Our CEOs

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They are young. They are driven. They are pragmatic. They crave financial stability. They won’t put away their laundry no matter how many times I ask them.

Okay, that last sentence may just refer to the two adorable Gen Zs who happen to be my offspring. But, this next group has just started to hit the workforce (the oldest are 23), and will undoubtedly be the topic of much discussion. (We really should shut up about Millennials, because as the oldest of that group approaches 40, we should realize that many have moved into middle management, and are making the policies now.)

The Wall Street Journal put together information about how Gen Z differs from previous generations. Here are those differences and what it means to you when they start coming to work.

To keep reading, click here: Gen Z is Coming to the Workforce. Here is What to Expect.

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