No matter what your political views or affiliations, the truth is that times are changing and businesses need to change with the times. Many states, including Elite HR Team's home state of Illinois, are passing same-sex marriage laws.

Illinois's legislation was passed last fall and took effect June 1. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage, whether by court decision, state legislature, or popular vote. Eight other states that have bans on same-sex marriage have been or are involved in court battles, calling these bans unconstitutional, so more changes may be coming. Currently, the states where same-sex marriage is legal are:

California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. These new laws will affect employers in various ways.

Employers will need to treat same-sex spouses the same way they treat opposite-sex spouses. This will have ramifications for employer-sponsored health plans with spousal coverage eligibility as well as retirement plan beneficiary requirements.

Also, employee leave policies will be affected. For example, the guarantees provided by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for the serious health condition of a spouse will be available to same-sex spouses. Similarly, other leave or benefit policies relating to spouses and families (e.g., bereavement leave) will need to be administered consistently for opposite-sex and same-sex married employees.

Employers also need to know what their state specific laws say. A provision in the Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on marital status. Thus, no adverse action should be taken against employees based on their status as married or single. Sex and familial status are both protected classes under the Civil Rights Act, which means you cannot base a decision to hire or fire on them.

In addition to knowing how the law will affect you, you should also consider Sexual Harassment & Diversity Awareness training, so that your staff understands how to avoid discrimination in the workplace and so you can prove that you don’t condone discrimination on this basis should you end up in litigation for such a claim. Courts are more lenient on employers that have required this training for all employees and repeated the training. This issue has cropped up in other local news as the St. Louis Rams signed openly gay Michael Sam in the draft. Don Jones, a safety for the Miami Dolphins, was suspended, fined, and required to take "sensitivity training" before returning to practice because of remarks he made on Twitter. If he had been through Elite HR Team's training session, he would have known better!  

By Jodi Tahsler

When you see Sexual Harassment cases in the news, they always seem sensational and most employers probably think, "My employees know better. They would never do something like that."

 We don't like to scare people. Unfortunately, what you don't know can hurt you in the form of costly lawsuits and government fines when it comes to operating your business without competent HR function.
 
Some of the top fines that businesses can face are obvious.
 
For example, when it comes to wrongful termination, the average defense costs are $85,000, and juries typically award $500,000. Since most states practice "at-will" employment, employers think they can let an employee for any, or no, reason. And they're right, to an extent. Unfortunately, they have to be able to prove that they didn't terminate the employee for an illegal reason, which is why proper recordkeeping procedures are so important. 
 
Sexual harassment is another hot topic that's often featured in news headlines, and payouts can rise into the millions, depending on the severity of the harassment. Even though employers may encourage their staff to treat each other with respect, they are responsible for that one employee who many think it's ok to give his female employees a pat on the back(side) for a job well done. Holding Sexual Harassment & Diversity Awareness training annually can not only train staff to avoid such issues, but reflects favorably on the company in front of a judge if an issue should arise.
 
There are other fines that may not seem so obvious. You may not realize it, but if your filing system isn't compliant, you could be facing thousands of dollars in fines. In fact, the I-9 form alone, which is required for every employee, has fines of $110 to $16,000 for improperly filling out the information.
 
Negligent hiring fines can also reach into the millions. After a deliveryman attacked a customer, the employer was held liable for $2.5 million for negligently hiring and retaining the deliveryman. No job interview was conducted; no references were requested; and he was not asked to fill out a job application. It was discovered that the deliveryman had an extensive arrest record that should have raised red flags.
 
Click here to read more about non-compliance issues. Also, sign up for our FREE 5 Costly HR Mistakes to Avoid webinar on April 16. Our passion is protecting small businesses, giving them the tools they need to protect their bottom line from costly lawsuits and government fines. Click here to sign up.

As the below info-graphic illustrates, harassment & discrimination is a very serious issues for businesses, and can be very costly. Businesses should avoid discrimination by training their employees and managers on appropriate workplace behavior. Attorneys suggest that workplaces have at least a bi-annual session of Sexual Harassment & Diversity Awareness Training and then also have every new-hire go through this training. It has been proven that businesses who conduct this training regularly are given a break in litigation because they're able to prove that they do not condone discrimination and harassment in the workplace, but rather take preventative measures to avoid this behavior in the workplace. 

Learn more about our Sexual Harassment & Diversity Awareness Training here.

We have 3 options for you when it comes to this training. 

1. We can come on-site and conduct this training for you and it includes the training presentation, handouts, and quizzes. 

2. We have online capabilities where your employees can watch a training video remotely. The handouts are populated on the page below the training and they are prompted to complete the quiz online as well.

3. You can purchase our DIY training kit and conduct the training yourself. The disc includes the PowerPoint training, the movie, the handouts, the quizzes, and the answer key.  

We also offer this training quarterly for you to send your new-hires to, if you so desire. 

Learn more about our Sexual Harassment & Diversity Awareness Training here.

A recent episode of Big Bang Theory (watch the episode here) showcased workplace sexual harassment. It was a clear depiction of what sometimes happens in the workplace (exaggerated of course since it is television). The episode proved how it does not necessarily matter what the person meant to say, or what their intentions were. What matters is the perception of what was said. How did they perceive the comments or actions? Any time a harassment complain is filed, the employer is legally obligated to investigate and reconcile the issue. Some situations severe enough in nature require that they employees no longer work in close proximity, and sometimes results in termination.  There are many factors to consider when handling a sexual harassment complaint. It is far too complicated to entirely summarize in one blog post. Our online compliance portal guides employer’s compliance offering summarized legislation, forms, checklists, guidelines and more to help small businesses ensure their legal compliance in the human resources arena.

In 2011, a Belleville, IL employer settled one of the largest sexual harassment cases in history. An employee of Aaron’s Rent-To-Own in Belleville, IL was awarded $95,000,000 in damages.The settlement was so large mostly because the employer did not handle the complaint correctly.  If you don’t have millions to spare on a lawsuit, ensure you handle all harassment complaints appropriately. If you’re not sure what to do, give us a call. We help guide employer’s compliance. That’s what we do.