Employment & Compensation

CRA regularly provides proactive analyses of organizations’ employment practices. We work with counsel to prepare internal audits of employment outcomes and develop systems that allow for periodic monitoring of selection decisions. Organizations undergoing workforce reductions rely on our adverse impact models to examine areas of concern where additional review or documentation may be desired. As part of this review we look at the underlying criteria utilized by decision-makers to determine what may be generating the apparent adverse impact on a particular employee group. CRA also develops user-friendly tools that clients rely on for smaller decisions to determine if further examination is appropriate.

CRA proactively assesses hiring and promotion processes from application through hiring or promotion to identify any areas of concern in either the selection process or outcome. Using these analyses clients can identify specific organizational unit or stage of selection process that may lead to unintended outcomes. CRA’s analyses are grounded in labor economic theory, underlying market conditions, and client specific policies and procedures.

CRA helps employers assess and actively manage/mitigate risk under many different laws, uncover potential inequities, and develop strategies to address gender, pay, and racial inequities. We have helped corporations and legal counsel develop strategies, processes, and controls tailored to their industry and their individual diversity practices. Our consultants combine deep knowledge with cutting edge analytics and in-depth regulatory knowledge to deliver clear answers and concrete action plans.

CRA experts provide expert testimony in matters involving allegations of discrimination in compensation, promotions, terminations, hiring, and performance reviews. Our work includes estimating potential earnings and other economic losses associated with alleged wrongful termination, failure to promote, equal pay, and wrongful death in both single- and multi-plaintiff matters.

We also work with counsel to anticipate and respond to OFCCP desk audits and EEOC investigations, assist in the review and production of employer data to government agencies, participate in negotiations with agency officials on appropriate statistical methodologies, and provide analyses that are required as part of a negotiated settlement or consent decree.

Pay equity is governed by a variety of complex laws that create a substantial amount of risk. When employers want to manage their risk exposure and ensure their employees are being paid equitably, they turn to CRA. For more than 20 years, we have helped HR leaders and legal counsel develop strategies, processes, and controls tailored to their pay practices. CRA has experience in a wide range of industries, and our work has withstood the scrutiny of both local and federal agencies.

We are well versed in ascertaining the impact of public policy decisions, such as living wage laws on labor market outcomes, including unemployment and labor costs. In the area of education, we work with clients on policies concerning individuals who are on the margin between going to college and not as well as policies for vocational and technical colleges, and policies concerning school construction, the effects of additional school funding, incentives in education for teachers and students, school accountability, health interventions as a way to increase school performance and educational attainment, job training, and vocational education.

We have extensive experience in analyzing liability and assessing damages under federal and state wage and hour laws, including assessing the value of unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, minimum wage violations, missed meals and rest periods, lost vacation days, and failure to pay prevailing wages. CRA has worked extensively with payroll, HRIS, and time clock data to analyze liability and assess damages under wage and hour laws.