In true 2020 style, this year’s general election was one for the history books. While the presidential race has been called in favor of President-Elect Joe Biden, the inevitable legal challenges are looming. Meanwhile,...more
11/12/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
There is a new law for Tennessee employers. As of October 1, 2020, those of you with employees in Tennessee must reasonably accommodate pregnant employees under the state’s new “Pregnant Workers Fairness Act” or else face...more
11/10/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Duty to Accommodate ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Legislation ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State and Local Government
Everyone is talking about voting options — absentee ballots, early voting, and, of course, the traditional going to the polls on election day. With the presidential election on November 3, you may be thinking about giving...more
Months of working from home have made at least one thing clear – the “Freshman 15” has nothing on the COVID-19. Boredom, stress, and ease of access to the refrigerator has caused many employees to trade in their suits for...more
Law and Practice -
The 2020 Chambers US Regional Employment Guide features guidance on employment law across 14 states and includes a unique state comparison tool for readers. The guide provides expert legal commentary on...more
10/22/2020
/ Black Lives Matter ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gig Economy ,
Harassment ,
Health and Safety ,
Interviews ,
New Guidance ,
NLRB ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
Technology Sector ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Safety
This year has presented many challenges, including a global health pandemic, wildfires, hurricanes, and social justice unrest, and yet we now face a fast approaching influenza season that is sure to bring on more coughs,...more
10/9/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exemptions ,
Influenza ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Objections ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations
Whether a worker is an employee covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (and potentially entitled to overtime pay or benefits) or an independent contractor who is not covered has been the center of an ongoing legal...more
10/5/2020
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
In case you missed it, below are a few of the most recent employment law updates that may have gotten lost in the onslaught of the 24-hour news cycle.
EEOC Issues Opioid Accommodation Guidance -
While employers have...more
9/22/2020
/ Ban the Box ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Governor Cooper ,
Governor Kemp ,
Governor Lee ,
Health Care Providers ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) ,
Opioid ,
OSHA ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Substance Abuse ,
Written Notice
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, we have been talking about things to do to keep your employees safe and what laws apply in that arena. Recently, OSHA started handing out fines to companies for employee outbreaks...more
Retaliation claims in employment litigation have been on the rise for years. The typical scenario has an employee reporting some sort of alleged discriminatory act, either against them or a coworker, followed by the employer...more
As the country moves closer to fully opening businesses, the Department of Labor wants to remind all employers that their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act are still in place for workers with disabilities....more
8/26/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
High Risk Covid Employees ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Sick Employees ,
Social Distancing ,
Telecommuting ,
Workplace Safety
There have been many examples of the tension between the “gig economy” and traditional labor laws. Most of the companies like Uber or Grubhub choose to classify their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees,...more
The EEO-1 report — who doesn’t love preparing that? With recent changes it has only gotten more fun. Many employers waited for the EEO-1 reporting portal to open for the March 31, 2020 reporting deadline, but it never did....more
How long do you have to reinstate an employee following military leave? In Harwood v. American Airlines, the Fourth Circuit found that a delay of six or eight weeks was too long. The Uniformed Services Employment and...more
The U.S. Department of Labor issued a Field Assistance Bulletin on June 24, 2020, announcing that it will not routinely assess pre-litigation liquidated damages as part of the settlement process for claims under the Fair...more
OSHA and the CDC have each recently issued new guidance for employers as more and more employees make their way back to on-site work following the COVID-19 shutdown. Here are a few tips to consider to ensure that you are...more
6/19/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Sick Employees ,
Workplace Decontamination ,
Workplace Safety
This week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII — the main federal anti-discrimination law on the books — prohibits discrimination against employees who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT). The...more
6/16/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
New York is now the latest state to ban all employers from asking about a job applicant’s salary and wage history. The law, which went into effect on January 6, 2020, expands the reach of anti-discrimination laws in New York...more
A February 2020 jury verdict against county music star Martina McBride’s production company highlights – albeit indirectly – the perils of unpaid internship programs and the issues they can cause under the Fair Labor...more
2/27/2020
/ Compensatory Damages ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Internships ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
Primary Beneficiary Test ,
Retaliation ,
Unpaid Interns ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
What does an age discrimination plaintiff have to prove to succeed? Federal employees may have an easier path for proving an age discrimination claim, if we are reading the tea leaves correctly on the Supreme Court’s oral...more
1/23/2020
/ ADEA ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Age Discrimination ,
Babb v Wilkie ,
Burden of Proof ,
Burden-Shifting ,
But For Causation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Employees ,
McDonnell Douglas Formula ,
SCOTUS ,
Standard of Proof ,
Summary Judgment
When do your business relationships make you a joint employer? Fortunately, the DOL recently published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with changes to regulations regarding when two or more entities should be treated as...more
12/20/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Subcontractors ,
Wage and Hour
What happens if you give an employee an accommodation that goes above and beyond what the ADA requires? Can you change your mind down the road and stop providing that accommodation? Or are you stuck providing that...more
The sometimes agonizingly slow Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is trying to be more efficient. According to the latest Agency Financial Report, in fiscal year 2019 the EEOC reduced the level of pending private sector...more
If an employee misses work to attend church on Sunday morning and the company subsequently fires her, is that religious discrimination? A jury in Texas recently said yes and awarded the plaintiff close to $350,000. The...more
Is everything covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? Although we all know the ADA broadly defines the conditions that are protected disabilities, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Shell v....more