This post may become obsolete in the next five minutes.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a new vaccine mandate decision yesterday, declining to lift the stay it had issued on...more
Well, that was fast.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has granted an emergency stay of the Emergency Temporary Standard that was formally issued Friday by the Occupational Safety and...more
Substantively moderate, but logistically? Ugh.
As I'm sure you all have seen, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration released yesterday its long-awaited Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID-19 vaccinations. ...more
11/5/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Documentation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Federal Register ,
Immunization Records ,
Masks ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
OSHA ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Remote Working ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
Somebody say "Amen."
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has added a new section to its COVID-19 guidance, related to religious objections to vaccine mandates.
I am happy (OK, relieved) to say that the latest...more
10/29/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Guidance Update ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Exemption ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Vaccinations
I'm not sure the ADA will let you do that.
There has been a lot in the news lately about job applicants who include their COVID-19 vaccination status on their resumes, employers who ask applicants for that information, and...more
10/8/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Medical Examinations ,
Medical History ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
Idle speculation as employers await the actual guidance.
As you know, last week President Biden issued Executive Orders and a directive to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to require many, many employers...more
9/17/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Joe Biden ,
Labor Relations ,
Paid Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Wage and Hour
This might help employers figure it out.
Now that employers are becoming more aggressive in requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, we are also seeing a lot of requests from employees for religious...more
And I'm not even talking about sexual harassment.
As you all know, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) tendered his resignation this week, graciously offering to work a two-week notice.
I am not going to pile on about the...more
What should employers be watching for?
Since COVID hit in full force in March 2020, many employees started working from home and having work-related discussions -- and even parties -- via videoconference.
Now that people...more
8/6/2021
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Furloughs ,
Remote Working ,
Secret Recordings ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Videoconference ,
Wage and Hour
Here's what's been going on this week.
Some noteworthy labor and employment developments from the past week, in no particular order:
Court rules against Christian teacher who wouldn't use kids' names, preferred...more
7/16/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
First Amendment ,
Gender Identity ,
Hostile Environment ,
LGBTQ ,
Ministerial Exception ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Schools ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII
EEOC takes a stand on bathrooms and gender identity.
Well, not the whole Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Just the chair, Charlotte Burrows (D), who has issued non-binding guidance on sexual orientation and gender...more
Don't rely on it too much -- yet.
We recently got our first federal court decision addressing whether an employer had the right to require employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19. The court's answer was yes...
...more
7/2/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Food and Drug Act ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Popular ,
Pregnancy ,
Religious Exemption ,
Suspensions ,
Termination ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Happy days are here again!
How much do you know about summer workplace fun in '21? Take our quiz and find out! As always, the answers appear right after each question, so you can cheat all you want -- we'll never know. And...more
Mere "misuse" of information is not enough.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided yesterday that a criminal conviction under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act cannot be based merely on misusing information obtained through a...more
6/4/2021
/ Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Confidential Information ,
Databases ,
FBI ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Police ,
SCOTUS ,
Termination ,
Trade Secrets ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Van Buren v United States
Just before the Memorial Day holiday, we had a “breaking news” bulletin about the revised guidance published Friday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about employers’ and employees’ rights when it came to...more
6/3/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Confidential Information ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Documentation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Guidance Update ,
Health Care Providers ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Incentives ,
Personnel Records ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
State Labor Laws ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations
Vaccine incentives are generally ok!
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today issued revised guidance on COVID vaccinations, which include long-awaited guidance on employer incentives for employees to be vaccinated....more
Employers, don't get played.
"This is an employment-at-will state, and I can fire you for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all."
Oh, yeah?...
...more
5/28/2021
/ At-Will Employment ,
Discrimination ,
Documentation ,
Due Process ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Termination ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
Can employers breathe easy now?
Last Saturday, I went to the supermarket and did my weekly grocery shopping without a mask.
It was glorious! And completely legal!
But employers may not be as elated as I am, now that...more
5/21/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Documentation ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Incentives ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Pregnancy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Remote Working ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Miss Manners should stick to writing about ice cream forks.
Those of you who read this blog know that I am a longtime fan of the etiquette columnist Judith Martin, aka "Miss Manners," in the Washington Post. I have even...more
Test your knowledge about the FMLA, pregnancy bias, and more!
How much do you know about moms in the workplace . . . in 2021? Take our quiz and find out! As long as you are a mom, have a mom, love a mom, or know a mom, you...more
5/7/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Biden Administration ,
Child Care ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
In Loco Parentis ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Maternity Leave ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Vaccinations
And here are the details, such that they are.
In his address to the Joint Session of Congress on Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden formally announced (among other things) the paid leave provisions of his American...more
President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order on Monday establishing a task force whose stated purpose will be to recommend ways that existing laws and policies may be used to promote “worker power” -- in other words,...more
For two years: 2019 and 2020.
On Monday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that its portal for the collection of "Component 1" EEO-1 information is now open.
"Component 1" is the run-of-the-mill...more
And then you go and make it worse.
The Volokh Conspiracy posted last week about a Human Resources Business Partner who sued his former employer in federal court (Oregon).
I am in a charitable mood as I write this post,...more
4/23/2021
/ Background Checks ,
Confidential Information ,
Depositions ,
Electronic Records ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Public Records ,
Sanctions ,
Sealed Records ,
Sex Discrimination
Before the coming crackdown.
We expect federal agencies under the Biden Administration to move in a not-so-employer-friendly direction as soon as they have a chance to get settled in. While they're still settling in, this...more
4/16/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Biden Administration ,
Caregivers ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
OSHA ,
Performance Reviews ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Videoconference ,
Workplace Safety