As we barrel into 2023, it is worth a look back at last year. Employment law issues in 2022 were diverse, ranging from federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates (yes, that was last year) to state laws on CBD and diversity and...more
1/4/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabis Products ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Training ,
Employees ,
Employer Mandates ,
Hemp ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Stop Woke Act ,
Vaccinations
We can’t pass up the opportunity to encourage you to stay off the naughty list by telling you about this Eighth Circuit case offering guidance on working with your employees who request ADA accommodations. In Joseph Mobley v....more
12/22/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Leave of Absence ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working
On December 13, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which passed the Senate and House with bipartisan support. Many see the bill as a reaction to a concurrence in the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v....more
12/16/2022
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Joe Biden ,
LGBTQ ,
Marriage ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
Title VII
If you have or want enforceable non-compete agreements with employees, read on.
Here’s a hypothetical: You are looking to hire a salesperson, and you find just the right person, John. Your company has a great...more
Workplace hair discrimination is a topic that has floated through the media for the past several years. To prohibit discrimination, California has implemented the “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN)...more
This year brought substantial progress in the way of slightly fewer positive COVID-19 cases and/or transmissions and increased vaccinations. Consequently, in the employment world many of you reopened your offices and invited...more
11/23/2022
/ Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Classification ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Posting Requirements ,
Safe Harbors ,
State and Local Government ,
Unemployment ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
No employer wants to make decisions based on an employee's social media activity. Everyone tells employees to keep their private life private and don't let it affect the job — right?
Originally published by Law360 -...more
If you were just getting comfortable with the DOL’s final rule on employee versus independent contractor status (which took effect on March 8, 2021), there is bad news… or maybe good news. The DOL announced on October 11,...more
In a post-pandemic world, work-from-home and hybrid work arrangements have become the norm in many industries. While employers and employees have become adept at hosting Zoom and Teams meetings, this significant uptick in...more
An employee writes “whore board” on a company bulletin board — you can fire him, right? Not according to the NLRB and now the federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. In Constellium Rolled Products v. NLRB, the employer’s...more
An employer establishes a weekend work policy where only male employees can take both days off, and female employees can only take one weekend day off. Sounds like gender discrimination maybe? Well, in Hamilton, et al. v....more
Paid leave benefits are a hot topic these days. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has issued an updated report on states that have Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) programs and how they work....more
If a letter from the EEOC is in your virtual mailbox but you never open it, have you received it? Most of us are familiar with the requirement that a claimant who files an EEOC charge has 90 days to file a lawsuit after...more
California is complicated for employers — and a recent case, Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, is just one more example. The Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) authorized California employees to sue employers...more
6/16/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws
The EEOC first issued enforcement guidance: Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities in May 2007. Given that the EEOC issued some new guidance regarding pandemic-related caregiver...more
For the past three years, Mississippi remained the only state in the country that did not have a bill prohibiting pay discrimination based on gender. This all changed on April 20, 2022, when Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves...more
5/16/2022
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Governor Reeves ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
In the quest to hire the best employees, employers often look at an employee’s past — past jobs, credit history, and criminal history. If you are conducting background checks, you know you have to comply with the Fair Credit...more
Union efforts to organize workers are on the rise. Most notably, several high-profile employers are at the forefront of recent union campaigns, including Amazon, Starbucks and now Apple. Employees at Amazon’s Staten Island,...more
4/26/2022
/ Amazon ,
Apple ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Starbucks ,
Union Elections ,
Union Membership ,
Union Organizers ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions
Given the explosive growth of cannabis products and the increasing number of states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal or adult use (nearly 40 at last count), employers across the country are asking whether they can...more
4/22/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Section 301 ,
State and Local Government ,
Termination
Guaranteed confidentiality with regard to employee disputes may be becoming a thing of the past if the current tide of legislation continues. As we blogged about several weeks ago, Congress just banned arbitration agreements...more
4/13/2022
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
California ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Settlement Agreements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Washington
On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed the long-titled Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. Seen as a result of the #MeToo movement, this fairly simple amendment to Title 9 of the...more
4/8/2022
/ #MeToo ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Biden Administration ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
New Legislation ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment
In our modern world of a booming CBD industry and an increasing number of states that have legalized marijuana, can you terminate an employee for a positive drug test for marijuana? What if the test shows marijuana...more
4/6/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
State and Local Government ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination
Recently, the Florida House and Senate passed Florida HB 7, also known as, Florida’s “Stop WOKE” bill. The soon-to-be Florida law will expand the language of Fla. Stat. Ann. § 760.10, to include the prohibiting of certain...more
The joint employer rule has been a hot topic in the last several years, mostly in the context of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Recall the drama of the Trump administration's narrower definition of a joint employer for...more
This week, the EEOC issued new guidance regarding pandemic-related caregiver discrimination. The EEOC assumes (probably rightly) that caregiving obligations are more likely to fall on women so discrimination against...more