It’s been said that from crisis comes opportunity. And given that the COVID-19 pandemic has handed us the greatest collective crisis in our lifetimes, it should stand to reason that we should now be in the perfect position to...more
5/3/2021
/ Business Operations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Gig Economy ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Labor Relations ,
Legal Operations ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Remote Working ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
It appears to be official: unless the election results can be overturned in several states, Joe Biden will soon be our nation’s 46th president. Now the work begins to forecast what the next four years will bring. We’ve spent...more
11/9/2020
/ Affirmative Action ,
Biden Administration ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Political Campaigns ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
9/10/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Medical Leave ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Telecommuting ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Death
In a win secured by members of Fisher Phillips Wage and Hour Law Practice Group, a Colorado federal court just held that employers may “reasonably approximate” vehicle-related expenses for reimbursement purposes under federal...more
The U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (DOL) issued an Opinion Letter on August 31 concluding that, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its implementing regulations, employers are permitted to...more
Federal courts across the country have been split on the issue of whether a court can exercise personal jurisdiction over out-of-state plaintiffs who want to opt-in into a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action....more
This article addresses many employment-related issues facing employers in the wake of hurricane-related disasters; consequently, in addition to federal laws, we also focus on certain state laws, especially those in the areas...more
8/21/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Charitable Donations ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Data Privacy ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hurricane Season ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Relations ,
Medical Leave ,
Military Leave ,
Military Service Members ,
Natural Disasters ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Unemployment Compensation System ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
USERRA ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
After nearly three months of stay-at-home orders and the shutdown of non-essential retail businesses, New Jersey is slowly starting to reopen. Non-essential construction projects resumed, non-essential retail businesses have...more
Employers across the nation have faced swift and dramatic changes to business operations as states and local municipalities have issued “stay-at-home” orders and imposed other restrictions in the hopes of stymying the spread...more
In a much-anticipated decision, a federal appeals court just ruled that Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims resolved through Rule 68(a) offers of judgment do not require fairness review and judicial approval. The 2nd...more
12/16/2019
/ Appeals ,
Court Approval ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Offer of Judgment ,
Over-Time ,
Reversal ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Wage and Hour
Things were starting to get dicey in the Garden State as the legislature debated a California-like proposal that would have caused serious problems for gig economy companies and other businesses utilizing contract labor. But...more
The national conversation around issues of gender equality and the demands for pay equity is driving rapid changes in the law. Many states – including New York, California, Massachusetts, Oregon and New Jersey – have passed...more
11/14/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Corporate Culture ,
Diversity ,
Employee Training ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Leadership ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Wage and Hour
The federal Equal Pay Act (EPA) requires that men and women in the same workplace be compensated with equal pay for equal work. Nearly every state has its own law that also prohibits discrimination in wages on the basis of...more
• Cannabis businesses must comply with federal wage and hour law, a federal appeals court ruled, despite the fact they operate in a field still illegal under another federal law. The court said two wrongs don’t make a right....more
9/30/2019
/ Appeals ,
Collective Actions ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
A federal court announced yesterday that employers have until September 30, 2019 to turn over pay data as part of your revised EEO-1 reporting obligations. After several weeks of uncertainty, you now have a definitive due...more
The Supreme Court took the unusual step today of vacating a 2018 federal appeals court decision because one of the judges counted in the majority was deceased by the time the decision was published, reversing a landmark pay...more
New presidents are often judged based on their accomplishments in their first 100 days in office. President Trump is no exception to that rule. The Trump administration recently passed that milestone date, offering an...more
5/4/2017
/ Affirmative Action ,
Blacklist ,
Buy American Act ,
Data Security ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
LGBTQ ,
Neil Gorsuch ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
After his initial selection of Andrew Puzder was scuttled by staunch opposition from Democrats and worker advocates, President Trump nominated Alexander Acosta to be the country’s next Secretary of Labor. This Cabinet-level...more
It’s official: Donald Trump will soon be our nation’s 45th president. Now the work begins to forecast what the next four years will bring. We’ve spent some time gathering our firm’s collective wisdom on what the next...more
Pay equity issues are hot. President Obama has made pay equity one of the hallmarks of his administration by signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, establishing the National Equal Pay Task Force, and championing the fight...more
School bullying is one of the most pressing social, health, and educational concerns facing public and private schools alike. Long-term bullying, left unaddressed by schools or parents, can cause lasting physical and...more