For more information please call  800.727.2766

 

“ We collaborate with employers and employees to build respectful organizations through high-quality training, objective and unbiased complaint investigations, human resources and employment law expert testimony, and a wide range of human resources consulting services. ”

The EPS Team

LATEST NEWS AND STORIES

  • Twenty-One States are Upping the Minimum Wage for 2025

    An estimated 9.2 million low-wage workers will receive pay raises in 2025 because of minimum wage increases. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), these increases will equal $5.7 billion. Twenty-one states and forty-eight cities and counties will raise wages beyond their state minimum wages.

  • Black Student Enrollment Drops at Harvard Law School

    Harvard College was a primary defendant in the lawsuit underlying the Supreme Court decision prohibiting race as a consideration in admission decisions. A Harvard law professor who has studied Black representation in the legal profession told the New York Times that the decision and Harvard being named created a chilling effect. The law school enrolled 19 first-year Black students, the lowest number since 1965. Last year, 43 Black students enrolled, and some years as many as 70 have attended.

  • Employees Accuse Fashion Influencer of Toxic Work Environment

    Matilda Djerf is a Swedish fashion influencer. She started her fashion brand, Djerf Avenue, in 2019. The 27-year-old sells clothing and beauty and homeware products. In 2023, Forbes featured her in its “30 under 30” list. Her 4.5 million followers like her “clean girl” aesthetic looks. In mid-December, a Swedish tabloid (Aftonbladet) reported that 11 anonymous current and former employees said Djerf mistreated them. She allegedly bullied staff and designated one bathroom just for her and a small group of favored employees.

  • Amazon’s Bumpy Holidays

    Amazon drivers began to strike on December 18, clearly intending to disrupt holiday deliveries and wanting Amazon to feel the impact. The strike is limited to seven Amazon sites, including New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Chicago. The Teamsters stated that about 9,000 workers joined the strike.

  • Disney Settles Defamation Suit Brought By Donald Trump

    On March 10, 2024, George Stephanopoulos said on-air that Donald Trump had been “found liable for rape” in the E. Jean Carroll civil case. The jury in that case returned a guilty verdict against Trump for sexually abusing Carroll. The judge had noted that New York has a narrow definition of rape (i.e., vaginal penetration by male genitalia only). Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC and Stephanopoulos one week after the broadcast. In December, Disney (ABC’s parent company) reached a $15 million settlement with Trump.

  • Potential Mass Deportations May Drastically Reduce Agriculture and Healthcare Industries

    Incoming President Trump campaigned on his plan for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. Immigrants perform many jobs in essential industries like construction, agriculture, technology, and health care. These industries have struggled to find domestic workers to fill the positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that immigrants comprise 18.6% of the 2023 workforce (CNBC).

  • More Work Without More Money Equals a “Dry Promotion”

    Many employers assign workers more responsibility, sometimes offering a new title, but they do not increase worker pay. These so-called “dry promotions” are on the rise, according to a USA Today report.

  • RTO Policies Leading to “Abnormally” High Turnover

    Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) assessed the impact of return-to-office mandates on employee turnover and hiring. Focusing on S&P 500 high-tech and financial firms with these RTO policies, they found an “abnormally” high employee turnover. Women, senior-level employees, and higher-skilled employees left the firms at higher rates. The Pitt study concluded that firms are “losing their best talent and female employees,” and it is harder to attract talent after RTO mandates.

  • Biden Administration Seeks to End Below Minimum Wages for Disabled Workers

    Since 1938, employers may pursue certificates from the Department of Labor that authorize them to pay disabled workers less than the federal minimum wage—currently $7.25 per hour. President Joe Biden promised to increase these wages in his 2020 presidential election campaign. The Biden Administration proposes to bar the DOL from issuing new certificates and plans to phase out the current ones over the next three years. As of May 2024, about 800 employers have these certificates, and the changes will impact about 40,000 workers.