Camille Olson Quoted in Pension & Benefits Daily
"Practitioners Detail Potential Impact of Recently Enacted Ledbetter Statute"

Camille Olson was quoted in the article, "Practitioners Detail Potential Impact Of Recently Enacted Ledbetter Statute," published February 25, 2009 in Pension & Benefits Daily. The article reported on a recent teleconference that discussed issues presented by the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Camille noted that the law makes it far more likely for employees to link termination and other claims with pay discrimination claims that date back several years, thus requiring employers to retain documents for longer periods. She also noted that employers should consider having standard forms on which managers can detail their objective reasons for making pay related decisions. Camille suggested that employers rethink their current pay practices and how they link compensation to evaluations. She continued on to state that employers may decide to provide lump-sum bonuses for good evaluations rather than pay increases because bonuses are not reflected in paychecks years into the future. Camille pointed out, "Those are real decisions I think that human resources departments throughout the country are considering."

According to Camille, “It’s also critical to think about your internal policies, what is the skeleton for your system.” She noted that employers should look at whether a supervisor reviews employment decisions and whether managers are trained in making decisions and retaining documents. Camille concluded, employers should not just look at the statistics, but should also examine the process for making employment decisions.