Survey: Fed’s Workplace Enforcement Remains “Extraordinarily Robust”

Anticipated regulatory relief from the Trump administration is proving “slow to materialize,” and meanwhile state and local labor regulation is getting increasingly complex. These are among the finding from Littler’s eighth annual employer survey regarding the legal, technological and social issues having the greatest impact on the workplace. Survey results are based on responses from 1,331 in-house counsel, human resources professionals and C-suite executives. “Compounding the challenge of navigating a complicated legal landscape, employers are more preoccupied than ever with preventing harassment and pay inequality in the second year of the #MeToo movement,” the report concludes. Meanwhile, “companies are starting to use robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to boost efficiency and improve performance, but few are seizing on the full range of opportunities presented by these emerging technologies, nor are they sufficiently preparing for the impact on the workforce.” Among the specific findings: Employers are ramping up their sexual harassment prevention training of both supervisors and employees.