Can you enforce your uniform policy, even if that means an employee can’t wear a union t-shirt? Earlier this month, in Tesla, Inc. v. NLRB, the Fifth Circuit looked at that very question and ruled for Tesla....more
Tips to Change the Mental Health Culture in Your Workforce -
Let’s face it—while the stigma about mental health issues has gotten better, much work is still needed. It is up to all of us to help improve the dialogue and tone...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently introduced proposed enforcement guidance aimed at further clarifying and strengthening measures against harassment in the workplace. The 144-page guidance outlines...more
11/17/2023
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
If you transfer employees with no loss of pay or status, can they sue you under Title VII? Right now, it depends on where you live and what your local federal circuit has ruled. That could change....more
Beginning November 1, 2023, employers must use the new Form I-9 (rev. date 08/01/23) to verify the work authorization of their employees. Although this new Form I-9 has been available since August, until now you could also...more
Today, the NLRB issued their Final Rule on what constitutes joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act. This new rule overrides the old 2020 standard, that was much stricter in what type of control had to...more
Does the fact that an individual is disabled automatically make him a “qualified individual with a disability” under Title I of the ADA? In Stanley v. City of Sanford, Florida, the Eleventh Circuit said no....more
10/20/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Retaliation ,
Retirement ,
Title I ,
Title VII
If you don’t already know, Starbucks has been in a pretty big labor dispute, and there are bound to be lessons for all of us. If your company has internal documents about relations with prospective unions, you may have to...more
Last week, on the 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act — which prohibits disability discrimination by federal contractors and other programs receiving federal funds — the EEOC and Department of Labor issued a resource...more
10/5/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disabilities ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
New Guidance ,
OFCCP ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Subcontractors
Recently, the EEOC announced its top priorities for the coming years in its Strategic Plan for 2022-2026. We hit the highlights of the goals and plans for implementation below so that you can start preparing for the upcoming...more
For more than 50 years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has required certain employers to submit annual EEO-1s with workforce demographic data (i.e., number of employees by job category and by sex and race or...more
For many, this has been a summer of strikes. Beyond the high-profile, ongoing strike of Hollywood writers and actors, union actions have secured outcomes like substantial pay increases for UPS drivers and commercial air...more
The DOL issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing, among other things, to increase the salary threshold for white-collar overtime exemptions. You may recall that there was a lot of discussion about this back in 2016...more
9/7/2023
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
White-Collar Exemptions
If you are an employer covered by the federal Fifth Circuit (Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi), you are probably familiar with the “ultimate employment decision” standard: In determining whether an employee suffered an...more
We promised to keep you updated with the EEOC’s proposed regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PFWA). Per its website, the EEOC is publishing the proposed regulation on August 11, 2023, and you have until October...more
The National Labor Relations Board in 2023 has continued on its pro-union path in all areas of traditional labor law. Many of the NLRB’s actions are the result of the ongoing advice memos which are being issued by General...more
8/4/2023
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Union Membership ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a new final rule on the Form I-9 process. Under the new rule, the DHS Secretary may authorize alternative Form I-9 documentation examination procedures that do not...more
If you use non-competes, make sure you complete all the steps to make them enforceable. It may be your practice to ask the employee to sign it and then not sign it yourself. While we seldom see challenges to this practice,...more
Employers in Alabama (along with the rest of the country) have faced headaches the last several years with staffing shortages and shift coverage. In June, with bipartisan support, the Alabama Legislature passed House Bill 217...more
Many workplaces allow their employees to listen to music or radio on site. But what if employees choose to blast “sexually graphic” and “violently misogynistic” songs throughout a warehouse? Does it matter whether the...more
Tracking intermittent FMLA time — it’s every HR professional’s favorite thing to do. Do you come up with a total number of hours per employee or just count portions of the workweek? What do you do if an employee takes...more
Your employee requests a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) but you refuse to grant it. If the employee continues to perform their job, can the employee still sue you for refusing the...more
5/31/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Compensation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability ,
Employee Training ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interpreters ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reversal
All employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must post an updated version of the FLSA “Employee Rights” poster to remain compliant with the law....more
5/18/2023
/ Breastfeeding ,
Covered Employer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Wage and Hour
Can you require your workers to arbitrate claims? What if they work in interstate commerce? Recently several courts have addressed the scope of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and when it applies to arbitration agreements...more
Mass shootings have been increasingly in the headlines in recent years, and many of these incidents have occurred in the workplace. Regardless of anyone’s politics, employers are having to face either the fear of, or the...more
4/13/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employee Training ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hostile Environment ,
Mass Shootings ,
Risk Management ,
Workplace Communication ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence