3. @Victoria
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erring,www.H
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Local Ordinances
Local Ordinances: Chapter 216 requires
local human/civil rights agencies in cities
of >29,000 population
see website of Iowa Civil Rights
Commission for city ordinances
http://www.state.ia.us/government/crc/index.html
page 3 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
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Iowa Law
Chapter 216, Iowa Code
Protection from sex/gender discrimination
familial status discrimination [housing and credit];
marital status [credit]
gender identity & sexual orientation [effective
July 1, 2007]
local ordinances in ~ 10 cities had similar protectionspage 4 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
6. @Victoria
L.H
erring,www.H
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Federal Protections
Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
Americans with Disabilities Act
Equal Pay Act
Family & Medical Leave Act
Uniformed Services Employment &
Reemployment Rights Act [USERRA]
page 6 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
8. @Victoria
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erringLaw.com
EEOC Enforcement Guidance: 2008
Discrimination against Caregivers
may amount to disparate treatment
discrimination on an illegal basis
sex/gender
race [& race + sex/gender]
disability
page 8 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
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Stereotyping [even if benevolent]
assumptions about who should/should
not be a ‘caregiver’
assumptions about whether men can/
should be caregivers
Familial status is not protected under
employment law
page 9 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
10. @Victoria
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erring,www.H
erringLaw.com
Family & Medical Leave Act
public employers and employers of
>50 employees
including employers of >50 employees within
75 miles of the worksite
Employee must be eligible for
coverage under the FMLA
page 10 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
11. @Victoria
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erring,www.H
erringLaw.com
Eligible: employed for >12 months
and >1,250 hours in previous 12
month period
Employee provides verbal notice of
need
Employer must notify employee of
FMLA rights/responsibilities and
notify whether leave will count
against annual FMLA entitlement.page 11 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
12. @Victoria
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erring,www.H
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eligible employees entitled to take up
to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave
annually
need not be consecutive workweeks
may be intermittent in some situations
Note, new FMLA amendment [NDAA] extends the
amount of guaranteed leave to up to 26 work weeks
page 12 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
13. @Victoria
L.H
erring,www.H
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for FMLA-approved reasons
childbirth and care
placement for adoption, foster
care
“serious health condition” of
immediate family members
broadly defined, illness
involving inpatient care or
continuing heath care
treatment
page 13 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
14. @Victoria
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erring,www.H
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“serious health condition” of
employee making him/her unable to
perform functions of position
new [NDAA]: a 5th trigger for
FMLA leave, because of
“qualifying exigency” because
spouse/child/parent of employee is
called to or on active duty
page 14 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
15. @Victoria
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Employee to be returned to
employment
return to original job
return to an equivalent job with
equivalent pay, benefits and terms
and conditions
use of FMLA leave cannot result in
lost benefits previously due
page 15 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
16. @Victoria
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erring,www.H
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USERRA enacted in 1994; FMLA
enacted in 1993
USERRA requires reemployed service
members receive all benefits of
employment as if had been continuously
employed, including leave under FMLA
except short term compensation, accrued paid
vacation
The USERRA Effect on FMLA
page 16 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
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2008 Amendment to FMLA: NDAA
January 2008 Amendment: a “spouse, son,
daughter, parent, or next of kin” may take up to 26
workweeks of leave to care for a “member of the
Armed Forces, including a member of the National
Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing medical
treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise on
the temporary disability retired list, for a serious
injury or illness”
new triggering event for FMLA leave
Servicemember Family Leave: to 26 weeks of
job protected leavepage 17 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
18. @Victoria
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erring,www.H
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ISSUES
Telecommuting and Off-Site work
Issues: wage & hour, OSHA, ADA,
discrimination, tax issues, confidential
information and trade secrets, worker
compensation, privacy
Benefits: morale, cost savings,
retention of employeespage 18 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
19. @Victoria
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erring,www.H
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Leaves of Absence & Absence Policies
non-discriminatory application of
policies
pregnancy, abortion, childbirth
military personnel
page 19 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
22. @Victoria
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adding family responsibilities
discrimination to antidiscrimination
policies in personnel handbooks
educating supervisors about what
constitutes caregiver discrimination
evaluating and disciplining to encourage
adherence to non-discriminatory policies
Best Practices
page 22 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
23. @Victoria
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reviewing criteria for hiring and
promotion to see if they disadvantage
employees with family caregiving
responsibilities
incorporating training about the
stereotypes and assumptions that underlie
FRD* into existing diversity training, or
providing stand-alone training on the
topic, and [*family responsibility discrimination]
page 23 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
25. @Victoria
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Develop non-discrimination, harassment
and retaliation policies
written, clear
prohibit discrimination, harassment
and retaliation
clear reporting procedures; effective
dispute resolution systems
training & evaluation of wowrkers
and supervisors on the issuepage 25 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
26. @Victoria
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erring,www.H
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Family & Employee Friendly work
environment
support flexibility of schedules, tasks
support personal involvement in
community
page 26 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005
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looking objectively at what types of
employees are doing what types of work in
the company: if the most important work
and most desirable assignments include
only non-caregivers such as women without
children and men who either don’t have
children or who have someone at home to
take care of family work, that may signal
FRD.
page 27 @ Victoria L. Herring, www.Herringlaw.com [2005] created 2005