Work This Way: A Labor & Employment Law Podcast - Episode 25: Issues for Public Employers with Bertha Enriquez of Renewable Water Resources
[WEBINAR] Labor & Employment Law: What Changed in 2017
Deivert v. Zartman and Borough of Northumberland, 2025 WL 83747 (M.D.Pa. 2025) - (Neither a municipality nor a municipal manager had immunity under the Pennsylvania Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act (“PPSTCA”) for the...more
On Sept. 4, 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation requiring public employers to notify employees if their disciplinary records are requested as part of a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request. This legislation...more
The California Supreme Court just ruled that public employers are not subject to civil penalties under the state’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA). In a pivotal decision, the court held that public entities,...more
Live from the annual Greenville SHRM conference, hosts Tina and Jennie welcome the Human Resources Manager of Renewable Water Resources, or ReWa, Bertha Enriquez. They discuss how ReWa, a quasi-public employer, navigates the...more
Most retirement plan sponsors know that ERISA - the federal law that imposes duties (and liability for breaching those duties) on certain individuals and entities that are defined as plan fiduciaries – is the primary source...more
The Public Employer Workplace Violence Prevention Act (the Act) requires public employers to have and implement workplace violence prevention policies. School districts and BOCES were previously exempt from this requirement...more
Public-sector employers in Florida will want to make certain they are in compliance with new restrictions on non-public safety unions (i.e., unions representing public-sector employees other than police officers,...more
Suppose a public employee maliciously and without probable cause files a lawsuit or initiates an administrative proceeding against you. You succeed in obtaining a dismissal, but would like to hold that employee accountable. ...more
Florida lawmakers passed a bill on Wednesday that will make it a crime for individuals to use certain bathrooms that don’t align with their gender at birth, raising many questions for schools, public employers, and businesses...more
The Florida Legislature recently introduced legislation (Senate Bill (SB) 1718) that would ramp up the penalties imposed on counties and municipalities that “knowingly employ, hire, recruit, or refer, either for herself or...more
On June 29, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States decided that a veteran could sue his former employer, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act...more
The law treats employees and independent contractors differently. Independent contractors are usually exempt from labor and employment legislation, such as minimum wage and overtime pay and retirement contributions, while...more
Mississippi joins the list of states limiting public employer COVID-19 vaccine mandates. On April 22, 2022, Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill banning public institutions and agencies from discriminating against people based on...more
Last year, a new law was enacted requiring public and private employers to comply with Florida’s new E-Verify mandates, with Fla. Stat. § 448.095 of the Florida Statutes taking effect on January 1, 2021. The law makes the use...more
Do you need a social media policy or are the legal obstacles just too much? Now more than ever, people are exercising their First Amendment right to free speech, which, not surprisingly, can cause heartburn at the workplace....more
On October 6, 2020, in Bennett v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville, No. 19-5818, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a district court’s decision in favor of a public employee who claimed that the city...more
This past Labor Day, Governor Cuomo signed legislation which requires all New York State public employers to adopt a plan for operations in the event of a declared public health emergency involving a communicable disease. The...more
(Public) employers rejoice! In a unanimous decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court just ruled that PennDOT did not violate an ex-employee’s free speech rights by firing her over a Facebook rant in which the ex-employee said...more
In Jones v. Johnson, No. 18-2252 (January 9, 2020), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the discoverability of comparator information in a case involving an allegation that an employer failed to promote an employee....more
Illinois Public Act 101-0221 (Public Act) creates extensive and significant new protections for employees and imposes new obligations on all Illinois employers. This Holland & Knight alert identifies unique requirements...more
In an eye-opening opinion letter issued yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor confirmed that parents attending certain school meetings for the benefit of their children are entitled to FMLA leave for their absences. The...more
This alert is the fifth installment in our series on SB75, the anti-harassment legislation awaiting approval by Governor Pritzker, applies specifically to public employers and amends the Illinois State Officials and Employees...more
On April 9, 2019, the New York City Council overwhelmingly passed a bill that would prohibit most pre-employment screening for marijuana by public and private employers. The bill is supported by Mayor Bill de Blasio and would...more
Many employers maintain policies limiting their employees’ expectation of privacy in the workplace, including policies that eliminate any expectation of privacy when using company-issued electronic devices. While employers...more
The New Mexico Court of Appeals held in Wolinsky v. New Mexico Corrections Department that the state Fair Pay for Women Act’s definition of “employer” extends to the State of New Mexico and its agencies. ...more