In March 2022, Congress enacted a law limiting employers’ ability to mandate that employees pursue sexual assault or harassment claims through arbitration, rather than in court. The legislation was championed by former Fox News hosts Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky, whose nonprofit, Lift Our Voices, advocates to end employment clauses that prevent workers from going public with claims about toxic workplaces. Carlson began advocating against mandatory arbitration after encountering issues with the process when she sued her boss, former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, for sexual harassment in 2016.

That law, formally known as the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFASASHA), is now playing out in the courts, and in two recent cases federal judges ruled that employers can’t force workers into arbitration.

Courts side with workers in food service, finance industries. A US appeals court in St. Louis ruled on August 5 that Chipotle can’t require a worker who accused a colleague of sexual harassment and rape to resolve her claims through arbitration.

A new legal landscape. In light of the Chipotle decision, experts told Bloomberg Law employers can expect to see more workers file lawsuits alleging sexual assault or harassment that occurred prior to when the federal took effect on March 3, 2022.

Keep reading here.—CV

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As some companies roll back DE&I efforts in response to pressure from conservative activists, a vital part of DE&I programming is also changing: employee resource groups (ERGs). While DE&I skeptics may see this as a victory, one expert believes the change shows diversity and inclusion progress.

ERG language shift. Last week, Harley-Davidson became the latest company to walk back its DE&I promises after being targeted by Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist, who was also behind the DE&I changes at Tractor Supply and John Deere earlier this summer.

While ERGs have existed in corporate culture since the 1960s, they have a new tone, and some companies are starting to rebrand them as business resource groups (BRGs). Just last year, Harley-Davidson touted how its ERGs provide community and influence company programming, but the recent announcement indicates that the goal of these groups is changing.

Not necessarily a bad change. Vijay Pendakur, a talent and workplace culture consultant, told HR Brew that the changes may not be the win that conservatives think. He believes that transforming ERGs into BRGs shows progress toward DE&I maturity.

Keep reading here.—KP

Demand for behavioral healthcare rose in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and when confronted with impossible workloads, burnout, and low salaries, many practitioners left the field.

As demand for mental health services remains high, recruiters across the industry have faced challenges hiring these practitioners. It’s an issue Adam Juran, a strategic talent partner at NYC-based telepsychiatry group Rivia Mind, has faced. In his role, Juran handles “a lot of things talent management,” including hiring, learning and development, and focusing on talent strategy.

He cited difficulty recruiting for clinical roles including social workers, nurse practitioners, and psychiatrists. He also noted issues around compensation as healthcare roles saw skyrocketing salaries and bonuses because of the pandemic and increased expectations around pay transparency.

“We have to separate what’s important at [the] company versus what’s important in the market, and what the market’s feeling,” he told HR Brew. “I would say, from an HR stance, really the glaring topic is compensation and pay transparency.”

Keep reading here.—PM

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