Most employers understandably dread the possibility of a workplace investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. However, many of these same companies fail to pay appropriate attention to notices of...more
Last month, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued updated guidance on penalty and debt collection procedures. According to OSHA, the policy revisions are intended to assist small businesses with...more
8/21/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Guidance Update ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Safety Violations ,
Small Business ,
Workplace Safety
For years, both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and multiple federal appellate circuits have agreed on the legal standard for proving liability for sexual or other harassment by a third party such as a vendor or...more
8/15/2025
/ Appeals ,
Customers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Harassment ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Third-Party ,
Third-Party Harassment ,
Title VII ,
Vendors
Recently, we had interesting questions from a client that was implementing two-factor authentication for employees to access the company’s information systems. The process requires employees to install the authentication app...more
8/8/2025
/ Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Devices ,
Multi-Factor Authentication ,
Remote Working ,
Workplace Privacy
How should employers react to employee complaints of harassment or threats of physical violence from a former coworker? Once the company has terminated the coworker, concerns about retaliation against an employee by the fired...more
At the end of its latest term last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a major decision regarding the ability of federal district courts to issue nationwide injunctions blocking executive branch regulations and executive...more
Here is a common scenario faced by human resources professionals: An employee complains about unprofessional and bullying behavior by a coworker. After interviewing the two employees and other workers, the employer cannot...more
Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to begin enforcement of English language proficiency (ELP)...more
6/2/2025
/ Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Motor Carriers ,
Motor Vehicles ,
New Guidance ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trump Administration
For employers, workers' compensation laws act as both a sword and a shield. While injured employees do not have to prove negligence resulting in the injury, they cannot sue the employer for personal injury outside of the...more
Employers sometimes believe that eliminating a job position instead of terminating an employee for poor performance gives them a "get out of jail free" card for purposes of avoiding legal claims associated with the decision....more
5/2/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Termination
Drug testing for marijuana has never been an exact science. There is no consensus on what level of marijuana in the bloodstream constitutes intoxication. Unlike alcohol, employees who used marijuana weeks ago or longer can...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a protected qualified individual as one who can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodations. ...more
The Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to provide unpaid meal breaks to non-exempt employees if those breaks are of a sufficient length and if employees are relieved of their duties during such breaks....more
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from requiring employee medical examinations absent business necessity. The ADA provides a back pay remedy for violations, but limits these damages to discrimination on...more
4/4/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Back Pay ,
Damages ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Medical Examinations
In several recent situations, we discovered that North Carolina employers implemented cuts in employee pay due to demotions or other business reasons without complying with state law notice requirements. ...more
The Family and Medical Leave Act provides unpaid job-protected leave for a qualified employee to care for a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition. This means that FMLA protections do not extend to employee...more
12/20/2024
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
In Loco Parentis ,
Parental Responsibilities ,
Special Needs Adults ,
Wrongful Termination
Earlier this year, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) issued a decision that provides employers with an important defense to some Family and Medical Leave Act...more
During union representation campaigns, it is common for employers to advise employees of the downsides posed by union recognition. The current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has criticized these tactics, alleging that...more
11/15/2024
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Special Meetings ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
With the January 1 pending increase to the minimum salary required to claim exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime provisions, many employers are facing the need to reclassify as non-exempt workers who will...more
Most consumers are aware that their personal data is collected, compiled, analyzed, and sold to third parties for marketing and other purposes. Many employees may not know of similar data collection practices relating to...more
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that it had reached a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed against a Pennsylvania debt collection agency alleging failure to provide a religious...more
As part of the backlash against employer-mandated COVID-19 vaccinations, Montana amended its antidiscrimination law to add vaccination status as a protected category. This means that employers are prohibited from inquiring or...more
Following a "cause" finding in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge of discrimination investigation, the agency issues a right to sue letter to the charging party or agrees to sue the employer on that person’s...more
Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsome signed two bills into law that affect California employers' discretion with regard to employees and applicants for employment. The first law seeks to prohibit so-called "captive...more
10/4/2024
/ Driver's Licenses ,
Effective Date ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Newsom ,
Job Ads ,
New Legislation ,
NLRA ,
Special Meetings ,
State Labor Laws ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
When considering accommodations requested by an employee due to a disability, employers sometimes fail to think through the long-term effects of such changes. In many cases, the accommodation request is permanent, meaning...more