Many people have commented on social media regarding the anti-racist movement that has been gaining strength in the wake of police officers killings around the country. Unfortunately, some of these posts are inflammatory,...more
6/23/2020
/ Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Hostile Environment ,
NLRA ,
Political Speech ,
Private Sector ,
Protected Activity ,
Race Relations ,
Risk Management ,
Social Networks
On May 13, 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued its decision in Wisconsin Legislature v. Secretary-Designee Andrea Palm, et al. and declared the state’s Safer at Home Order unlawful, invalid, and unenforceable, creating a...more
5/20/2020
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Executive Orders ,
Governor Evers ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
State Constitutions ,
State Health Departments ,
Void and Unenforceable ,
WI Supreme Court
On April 16, 2020, Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm issued an updated Safer at Home Order (Emergency Order #28), which extends and makes certain adjustments to the agency’s original order that...more
On March 24, 2020, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers issued “Emergency Order #12: Safer at Home Order” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The order, which requires Wisconsin residents to “stay at home or place of residence”...more
Following a nationwide trend (including California, Delaware, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and other states), Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announced he will be issuing a safer-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 outbreak....more
On March 20, 2020, Illinois joined California, New York, and Pennsylvania in issuing a sweeping closure order to contain the spread of COVID-19. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued Executive Order 2020-10, Executive Order...more
California, Connecticut, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York have all issued statewide shelter-in-place orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and more states may follow. Employers that do not qualify for an exemption...more
After ending 2018 with a slew of new employment laws, Illinois continues to enact legislation impacting employers. Following the example set by California, Washington, and other states recently, the Illinois legislature...more
6/12/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Woman Board Members
Employers frequently wonder when to pay bonuses to employees on leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Do employees who do not meet certain goals due to leave qualify for such bonuses?...more
Last year, a Wisconsin court of appeals held that it was unsettled under Wisconsin law whether employers may be required to pay employees for time spent driving between home and work in company vans if the vans are also...more
On March 14, 2019, Keith Sonderling, the acting administrator of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter clarifying the DOL’s position on designating and taking leave under...more
In March 2010, as part of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was amended to require most employers to provide nonexempt employees:
..“reasonable break time for an employee to...more
Join Milwaukee attorneys Sarah Platt and Christine Bestor Townsend as they discuss how things have changed for employers in the era of #MeToo....more
11/7/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Corporate Culture ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Harassment ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Workplace Communication
One year ago today, 10 days after the Harvey Weinstein story broke, Alyssa Milano tweeted: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”
While the #MeToo movement was started a...more
An estimated 9 million adults in the United States are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Eighty-seven percent of U.S. residents report knowing someone who is lesbian or gay, and half report having a close lesbian or gay...more
10/11/2018
/ Appeals ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
LGBTQ ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
OSHA ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Split of Authority ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
On February 20, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States tackled another controversy from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding whether retiree medical benefits enjoyed by individuals who retired while a collective...more
2/23/2018
/ CNH Industrial N.V. v Reese ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Extrinsic Evidence ,
Lifetime Health Benefits ,
Reservation of Rights ,
Retirement ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Summary Plan Description ,
Vesting
Many employers want to prevent their trusted employees from leaving the company and poaching their employees. In Manitowoc Company, Inc. v. Lanning, No. 2015AP1530 (January 19, 2018), the Supreme Court of Wisconsin examined a...more