Employment Law Optimism
Because the world feels just a teensy bit tense lately, we are going to start every week with a list of Monday Morning Good Things for Employees–a compilation of the previous weeks’ good news. Last week, proving good things often come from chaos, there seemed to be quite a bit of good news for employees.
- LGBTQ employment rights (in the federal sector at least) live to see another day. Despite rumors to the contrary, President Trump decided not to roll back Former President Obama’s Executive Order which protects LGBTQ employees who work for federal contractors from discrimination. Remember, aside from this Order which only applies to employees of federal contractors, no other federal law prohibits sexual orientation discrimination in the private sector. I have grumbled in the past about this. But! Since this is a Good Things list, let’s focus on the positive which is that at least some employees are protected on a federal level from sexual orientation discrimination.
- Starbucks announced it plans to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years–not just in the U.S. but in all of the countries in which it does business! That’s great news!
- The job market is healthier than it has been in a long time.
- The Super Bowl ads were awesome and inspiring. One promoted Equal Pay (and made us cry a little). Other ads reminded us that we would not have beer (and one of the largest companies/employers in this country) without immigrants while another reminded us that acceptance trumps hate every time.
There you have it: four good things for employees (and people in general, really) from last week. If you have any Good Things you would like to see added to next week’s list please comment or email us directly! Here’s to remaining hopeful and optimistic!
