Paid leave benefits are a hot topic these days. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has issued an updated report on states that have Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) programs and how they work....more
If a letter from the EEOC is in your virtual mailbox but you never open it, have you received it? Most of us are familiar with the requirement that a claimant who files an EEOC charge has 90 days to file a lawsuit after...more
California is complicated for employers — and a recent case, Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, is just one more example. The Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) authorized California employees to sue employers...more
6/16/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws
The EEOC first issued enforcement guidance: Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities in May 2007. Given that the EEOC issued some new guidance regarding pandemic-related caregiver...more
For the past three years, Mississippi remained the only state in the country that did not have a bill prohibiting pay discrimination based on gender. This all changed on April 20, 2022, when Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves...more
5/16/2022
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Governor Reeves ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
In the quest to hire the best employees, employers often look at an employee’s past — past jobs, credit history, and criminal history. If you are conducting background checks, you know you have to comply with the Fair Credit...more
Union efforts to organize workers are on the rise. Most notably, several high-profile employers are at the forefront of recent union campaigns, including Amazon, Starbucks and now Apple. Employees at Amazon’s Staten Island,...more
4/26/2022
/ Amazon ,
Apple ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Starbucks ,
Union Elections ,
Union Membership ,
Union Organizers ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions
Given the explosive growth of cannabis products and the increasing number of states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal or adult use (nearly 40 at last count), employers across the country are asking whether they can...more
4/22/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Section 301 ,
State and Local Government ,
Termination
Guaranteed confidentiality with regard to employee disputes may be becoming a thing of the past if the current tide of legislation continues. As we blogged about several weeks ago, Congress just banned arbitration agreements...more
4/13/2022
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
California ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Settlement Agreements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Washington
On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed the long-titled Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. Seen as a result of the #MeToo movement, this fairly simple amendment to Title 9 of the...more
4/8/2022
/ #MeToo ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Biden Administration ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
New Legislation ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment
In our modern world of a booming CBD industry and an increasing number of states that have legalized marijuana, can you terminate an employee for a positive drug test for marijuana? What if the test shows marijuana...more
4/6/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
State and Local Government ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination
Recently, the Florida House and Senate passed Florida HB 7, also known as, Florida’s “Stop WOKE” bill. The soon-to-be Florida law will expand the language of Fla. Stat. Ann. § 760.10, to include the prohibiting of certain...more
The joint employer rule has been a hot topic in the last several years, mostly in the context of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Recall the drama of the Trump administration's narrower definition of a joint employer for...more
This week, the EEOC issued new guidance regarding pandemic-related caregiver discrimination. The EEOC assumes (probably rightly) that caregiving obligations are more likely to fall on women so discrimination against...more
There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years about the joint employer test for liability under employment statutes. Whether it be Uber drivers in California or the back and forth over the Trump administration’s...more
Both the House and Senate have approved a bill that allows victims of workplace sexual assault and sexual harassment to take their claims to court instead of being forced to arbitration. In a rare show of partisanship,...more
3/4/2022
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Biden Administration ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Legislation ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
Despite all of our hopes and prayers for an end to the pandemic, we still have employees who are exposed to or testing positive for COVID-19, and we still need to figure out how to deal with those issues. The CDC issued new...more
1/7/2022
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
Quarantine ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
For almost two years now, employers have been tackling the issues surrounding COVID-19. Not surprisingly most questions centered on COVID-19-specific leave, OSHA reporting requirements, and vaccines. Now, the EEOC has chimed...more
In the ever-changing vaccine mandate legal tennis match, the Sixth Circuit on Friday entered an opinion lifting the Fifth Circuit’s stay of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID-19 vaccines and testing. Companies with...more
We’ve talked about social media policies several times over the years, but it’s been a while since we’ve discussed monitoring your employees’ work phones, emails, and internet usage. As you most likely know, you can and...more
As we are sure you have heard, many people are not all that psyched about the federal government mandating that employees get vaccinated. Just to keep everyone on the same page in these ever-changing times, here is a quick...more
12/9/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Injunctions ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
State and Local Government ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Many of us are understandably anxious to put another tumultuous year of the pandemic behind us. But before we sit down at the table to fill our plates and bellies to overflowing to celebrate the holiday, we can all find some...more
11/24/2021
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Harassment ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Stays ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Employers in Tennessee need to hold off on requiring COVID-19 vaccine proof from employees because they might run afoul of a newly minted law. On November 12, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an omnibus COVID-19 bill into law...more
11/18/2021
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Contractors ,
Governor Lee ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
Tennessee ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports
The saga of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) newly announced COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) continues. As you know, the ETS requires employers with 100 or more employees to mandate...more
11/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Injunctions ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
As most employers already know, OSHA’s newly announced COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) is set to take effect January 4, 2022, and will require, among other things, that workers at U.S. companies with at least 100...more
11/10/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Premature Claims ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing