1E9Ct5D

Workplace Trends – What Is Hot and What Is NotIn today’s business world employers are faced with many challenges and an everevolvinglegal landscape, such as new pregnancy rules under the ADA, ban-the-boxproposals relating to criminal convictions on employment applications, franchisees andfranchisors being found to be joint employers, protests to increase the minimum wage,and social media issues. This article discusses recent court and administrativedecisions, along with pending and proposed legislation and enforcement guidanceissued by various governmental agencies, and discusses their effect on employers. Italso provides some practical advice for employers in dealing with the difficulties anduncertainty they face in the ever changing work environment.I. The Use of an Applicant’s Criminal HistoryThe EEOC’s Guidance of 2012On April 25, 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued anupdated Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Recordsin Employment Decisions Under Title VII (the “Guidance”). 1Although the Guidancepurported to build on the EEOC’s long-held positions, it made several key changes thataffected how employers were to inquire about and treat an applicant’s criminal history inmaking employment decisions. More specifically, the Guidance refused to acceptpolicies that automatically excluded an applicant and tasked employers with conducting1 EEOC, Enforcement Guidance On The Consideration Of Arrest And Criminal Conviction Records InEmployment Decisions Under Tittle VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, As Amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec.2000 et eq., (Apr. 25, 2012).2