Highlights from AccelPro Employment Law - Volume VI
With Jim Keaney, Josh Guttman and Terri Gerstein | Interviews by Matt Crossman
Welcome to AccelPro Employment Law, where we provide expert interviews and coaching to accelerate your professional development. Today we are featuring a look back at recent interviews with experts in the employment law field.
Jim Keaney of Sandberg Phoenix on the EEOC and AI in the Workplace
Josh Guttman of Small Door Veterinary on Noncompete Agreements from the Client Perspective
Terri Gerstein of the NYU Wagner Labor Initiative on Local Enforcement of Worker Classification Rules
Prior highlights from AccelPro Employment Law: Volume I, Volume II (Career Development focus), Volume III, Volume IV and Volume V (2023 Roundup)
I. On the EEOC and AI in the Workplace
With Jim Keaney, Senior Associate at Sandberg Phoenix
Jim Keaney discusses the EEOC and AI in the workplace. Keaney walks us through the EEOC’s Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Fairness Initiative.
Keaney says the EEOC has taken a broad view of technology because it changes so quickly and so often, and the law often has a hard time keeping up.
“The main takeaway is for employers to talk to the software providers, ask questions, ask hard questions.” That way, even if you make missteps along the way, the EEOC appears willing to take your efforts into consideration. “The more of a due diligence background paper trail you can develop, the more likely I think you’re not going to have as much of a headache from the EEOC on the issue,” he says.
This episode — previously shared only with paid subscribers — is now available for all members.
For more on artificial intelligence, explore the archive of the AI collection.
II. On Noncompete Agreements - The Client Perspective
With Josh Guttman, Co-Founder of Small Door Veterinary
Josh Guttman discusses why noncompete agreements are unfair to employees and the potential impact of the Federal Trade Commission’s recent vote to ban them.
Guttman says noncompetes aren’t just golden handcuffs placed on high flying executives, but they’re much more insidious than that. And it appears the FTC agrees with him, as its vote last week to ban most noncompetes shows. But whether that ban will ever actually be enforced remains an open question.
For more on this topic, explore the archive of the noncompetes collection.
III. On Local Enforcement of Worker Classification Rules
With Terri Gerstein, Director of the NYU Wagner Labor Initiative
Terri Gerstein explores local enforcement of worker classification rules. She previously spent 17 years in New York government, mainly for the New York Attorney General enforcing labor laws. She describes her work there as like “Law And Order” but pursuing abusive employers.
This episode reviews the rise of independent contractors in recent years, the problems of misclassifying them when they should be employees and the increase in enforcement at the state and local level.
Misclassification has long been a major issue and has become even more prominent in the last few years. “It makes it really hard for the law-abiding businesses to compete with those who are misclassifying people and enjoying savings from an illegal manner of running their business,” Gerstein says. “And then it’s also really bad for the public coffers because there are unemployment taxes that need to be paid for the safety nets that are so important for everyone, and it ends up putting a burden on everyone.”
This episode — previously shared only with paid subscribers — is now available for all members.
For more on this topic, explore the archive of the worker classification collection.
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