Supervision. Paperless. Compliant.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently ruled on the case of Vinson v. Koch Foods of Alabama, LLC. It centered on how the plaintiff, who is Hispanic, was disciplined after an event in her office. The plaintiff and two of her colleagues, who are Caucasian, let their office for several hours one day. All three were suspended, but after the suspension, the plaintiff was reassigned to a different department, with additional responsibilities. The other colleagues were not. When her position was eliminated, the plaintiff sued, claiming discrimination.

USCIS released enhancements to the E-verify system in April 2018, improving the employment eligibility verification process and user experience. Examples of the improvements include plain/clearer language in instructions to reduce errors; elimination of the Request Name Review Process; and allowing users to enter multiple names in the “Other Last Names” field so E-Verify can check all names entered in the field.

Although legislation was passed before 2018, there are several workplace laws that have now only gone in effect this year. SHRM summaries eight trends that employers need to be aware of when handling their employees and hiring processes this year. Pay equity, drug testing, paid family leave are a few of the new laws that have hit the states this year.

Texas employers? Pay equity laws are being considered, but have not been enacted yet. You should also be on the look out for mandatory sexual harassment training requirements.

The IRS is working on updating their Form W-4 to reflect the withholding changes instituted in the tax reform bill that was signed in December 2017. They will issue initial withholding guidance in January and encourage employers and payroll service providers to implement the changes in February. The IRS changes will work existing Forms W-4, so taxpayers do not need to take further action.

Taxpayers will begin seeing changes in their paychecks as soon as February when the 2018 withholding changes go in place.

Randstand US released their “Six Workforce Trends that Will Dominate 2018.” With technology continuously evolving and shaping how business is operated, Randstand believe that in 2018 business leaders must adapt. While this is nothing new, AI, Workplace Automation, and Talent Analytics are advancing at a place where they will now be much more common in the staffing industry.

What else does Randstand US see for 2018?