As the U.S. becomes more politically divided, employers increasingly are forced to deal with political and social disputes among employees. Last week in Yelling v. St. Vincent’s Health System, the Eleventh Circuit Court of...more
The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires state and federal courts to defer to private arbitration agreements entered into between parties, including employers and employees. Employers often use arbitration agreements to...more
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) protects employees of public corporations who report alleged financial misconduct from retaliation by their employers. Last week, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that an employee’s...more
In July, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a National Emphasis Program (NEP) focusing on warehouse and distribution facilities. A NEP is an enforcement initiative put into place when OSHA...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor and Federal Trade Commission announced that they have entered into a memorandum of understanding for the purpose of sharing information and coordinating enforcement efforts. The...more
When we review an employer’s overtime exemption classifications for various jobs, we frequently raise questions over whether employees qualify as exempt administrative workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Many...more
The North Carolina Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA) prohibits employers from terminating or taking other adverse action against employees who complain about violation of rights protected under certain state...more
Last month, the owner of a Colorado construction company pled guilty to criminal manslaughter charges following the death of an employee as the result of a trench collapse. According to the federal Occupational Safety and...more
Earlier this year, the National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel released a memorandum taking the position that many employers’ use of noncompetition and related agreements violates the National Labor Relations Act by...more
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we started receiving an increasing number of questions from employers relating to employees seeking accommodations or leave for stress and anxiety-related mental health issues. In several of...more
The National Labor Relations Board continues its recent streak of overturning board decisions from the Trump administration that limit the rights of employees to organize and complain about working conditions. The latest...more
9/8/2023
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Employee Rights ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Union ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Protests ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Unpaid Interns ,
Working Conditions
Last week, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued proposed regulations that would allow a wide range of third-party representatives to accompany OSHA investigators during workplace investigations....more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a proposal to increase the salary requirement for employers to claim certain exemptions from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and minimum wage requirements to...more
9/8/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Salaried Employees ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The National Labor Relations Board has continued its reversal of Trump-era decisions. The NLRB issued a final rule expediting union election procedures, making it more difficult for employers to react and respond to...more
Under constitutional law, the nondelegation doctrine prevents Congress from adopting laws that give administrative agencies overly broad discretion to adopt regulations that usurp its legislative authority. Recently, the...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act does not require employers to ignore or excuse serious violations of their rules of conduct. For example, an employee who brings a weapon to work in violation of the employer’s policy...more
9/1/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
PTSD ,
Retaliation ,
Termination ,
Wrongful Termination
We often hear claims from employees who threaten to sue their employer for creating a “hostile work environment.” When we dig into the complaints, often the employee is alleging that their manager is mean or unfair to them,...more
8/25/2023
/ Appeals ,
Burden of Proof ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Race Discrimination ,
Title VII
In 2008, Congress amended the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to expand the definition of protected medical conditions under the statute. The amendments were in part a response to a series of cases where federal courts...more
For decades, the Department of Labor (DOL) has recognized the impracticability of requiring Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) nonexempt employees to clock in exactly at the beginning of their scheduled shifts. In most...more
8/18/2023
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Class Action ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Rounding ,
Timekeeping ,
Underpayment ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (DLI) and Amazon are engaged in a high-stakes dispute over the agency’s ability to require changes at warehouse operations intended to reduce what the state...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech protects a business from antidiscrimination laws when that company acts in accordance with its owner’s professed beliefs. ...more
Last year, Congress passed the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (PWFA). The new law is intended to assist pregnant employees with continuing their jobs until, and in some cases, beyond delivery. Patterned in part on the Americans...more
8/11/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Comment Period ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Essential Functions ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides covered employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave, if they or a close family member have certain medical conditions. Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations that allow disabled employees to perform the essential functions of their jobs. Over the years, federal appellate courts have reached...more
Employers that fail to pay required minimum wage or overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act are liable for the amount of missed wages: doubled, plus attorneys fees, costs, and interest. The court can award such damages...more