The Higher Ed Workplace Blog

On September 15, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a hearing titled, “Compensating College Athletes: Examining the Potential Impact on Athletes and Institutions.” The hearing was part of ongoing Senate discussions on potential federal legislation to permit student-athletes to receive compensation for their name, image, and likeness while participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association sports.

On September 9, 2020, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced the publication of a final rule that implements President Trump’s Executive Order 13864, Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities. The new rule conditions federal research or education grants on compliance with the First Amendment for public institutions and compliance with stated institutional policies regarding freedom of speech for private institutions.

CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard highlights recent rulings around the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issuing an opinion letter limiting its power to bring “pattern or practice” bias lawsuits, the EEOC concluding that workplace testing for COVID-19 does not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act as long as an employer’s testing is consistent with CDC guidance, state and local whistleblower protections for employees complaining of pandemic-related workplace health and safety problems beginning to become law, and more.

During the month of August, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a variety of regulations and guidance documents focusing on key employment issues related to COVID-19, including the paid leave policies within the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and employers’ responsibility to track telework hours.

In early August, federal judges in the Southern District of New York and the District of Columbia’s circuit court denied two requests from the State of New York and 18 state attorney generals to delay the August 14 effective date of the new Department of Education Title IX rule while the rule continues to be challenged in court. Citing a lack of evidence to support their claims that the rule itself is likely to be struck down, the judges’ orders mandate colleges and universities to comply with the new regulations as the fall semester begins.

Today, August 26, is the 100th anniversary of Women’s Equality Day. On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted, giving American women the right to vote (although not all women were free to exercise that right). While the adoption of the amendment was a paramount victory for women in the U.S., women today continue to battle inequality across multiple domains, including the workforce. In the higher education workforce, women’s inequality takes many forms, two of the most common being lack of representation in high-ranking positions and lower pay than their male counterparts in the same positions performing the same tasks. CUPA-HR’s most recent research report, The Higher Ed HR Workforce, provides an up-close look at representation, compensation and pay equity for women chief HR officers.

CUPA-HR members participating in the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge have reached the halfway point as we head into week three. They’ve read articles, watched videos, engaged in group discussions during town hall meetings about how systemic racism persists on and off campus. As we wrap up the first two weeks of the challenge, here are some of the takeaways from the group discussions so far.

CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard highlights recent rulings around a university doctor’s ADA suit alleging retaliatory discharge and harassment for speaking out in support of colleagues with depression and in support of his own mental health issues, the Denver U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that “older working women” are a protected class under Title VII, a university violating the CARES Act by laying off 2,800 adjunct faculty and staff, and more.

Higher ed HR professionals play a central strategic role in shaping the organizational environment of their institution, but what are the data behind our HR teams? CUPA-HR’s latest research report, The Higher Ed HR Workforce, examines the people and positions that make up the higher ed HR workforce. The positions examined in the report come from 31 of the most common HR positions surveyed across CUPA-HR’s Administrators in Higher Education, Staff in Higher Education, and Professionals in Higher Education surveys.

On July 16 and 17, the Department of Labor (DOL)’s Women’s Bureau and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) each issued a request for information (RFI) seeking input from interested stakeholders on questions related to job-protected leave in the United States. The Women’s Bureau RFI focused on questions relating to paid leave state- and employer- policies, while WHD’s RFI asked for input on current regulations implementing the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. Both RFIs have set a 60-day comment period for the public to respond.