On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission issued a broad Final Rule that effectively bans noncompete clauses nationwide. The FTC states that noncompete clauses are an unfair method of competition and violate Section 5...more
On Tuesday, April 23, the United States Department of Labor issued its anticipated Final Rule on the Fair Labor Standards Act salary requirements for overtime exemption.
The Final Rule, which will likely face legal...more
It has been a long road to this point, but the final Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) regulations are here. We first blogged in early 2023 about the PWFA, which became effective in June 2023, and again last August when...more
Can you prevent your employees from handing out pro-union paraphernalia if they’re on a paid break? After brewing on the issue, the D.C. Circuit says no, backing baristas in the first of five National Labor Relations Board...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published a final rule amending a regulation regarding the right to designate a representative to accompany OSHA inspectors during a workplace inspection. Why do we...more
It is every employer’s nightmare: You find out that employees (or former employees) are claiming that they were not paid properly and are due overtime for the last two or three years. This primarily arises because you...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities. To help determine effective accommodations, employers should use an “interactive...more
Workplace violence is an issue that impacts employees and employers alike. While OSHA uses the General Duty Clause to address such issues, some states are enacting their own laws about it. As we reported a few weeks ago,...more
3/14/2024
/ Employee Training ,
General Duty Clause ,
Healthcare ,
Labor Code ,
New Legislation ,
OSHA ,
Public Safety ,
Texas ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence ,
Workplace Violence Prevention Programs
Violence in the workplace is something all employers prohibit and try to prevent. Healthcare employers have a tougher time, because the violence often comes from patients.
How do you best protect workers while still...more
3/13/2024
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Nurses ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Skilled Nursing Facility ,
State Labor Laws ,
Texas ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence
You may recall that in 2021 the State of Florida, in a much-publicized move, passed a law called the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” which banned Florida employers from mandating employee attendance to any training or instruction that...more
3/8/2024
/ Class Action ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
First Amendment ,
Florida ,
Race Discrimination ,
Stop Woke Act ,
Title VII ,
Unconstitutional Condition
Remember last year when we repeatedly posted about the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (PWFA) and the PUMP Act telling you that the EEOC was going to have pregnancy discrimination on its radar? Recent activity from the EEOC...more
If an individual’s disability causes involuntary racist or profane utterances, what would a reasonable accommodation under the ADA look like? In Cooper v. Dolgencorp, LLC, the Sixth Circuit faced just such an inquiry....more
As we have been blogging during the Biden presidency, the National Labor Relations Board has become quite aggressive these days. The aggression toward employers has been shown in the types of conduct the Board finds to be...more
On January 30, 2024, the Biden administration proposed a rule (the Salary Rule) that would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to “prohibit contractors and subcontractors from seeking and considering information...more
2/9/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Minimum Salary ,
New Rules ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Mandates ,
Vaccinations
Texas has now joined states like California in creating statutory protections against workplace violence against healthcare workers. Senate Bill 240, now Chapter 331 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, requires healthcare...more
2/7/2024
/ California ,
Compliance ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Nurses ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Skilled Nursing Facility ,
State Labor Laws ,
Texas ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence
Someone who works in the home of their employer as a nanny or in another domestic service role is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) wage requirements, right? Not according to Blanco v. Samuel, a recent 11th...more
Changes in supervision may result in fresh ways of doing things. Certain rules that were never fully enforced may now come to the forefront. Can a new supervisor’s radical change in a long-term employee’s performance rating...more
Nearly a year ago, we reported that the United States Supreme Court was planning to hear a case—Acheson Hotels v. Laufer—on whether “tester” plaintiffs in ADA accessibility cases have standing to sue, including in the...more
Remember the 2021 Independent Contractor Rule? Well, forget it or at least most of it. Last week, the DOL published a new final rule for independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (the New Rule). The New...more
As this blog has consistently noted in the past, one of the most effective ways to combat unfounded allegations in the workplace is diligent record-keeping. Many employers have “point-based” disciplinary policies in which...more
1/9/2024
/ Absenteeism ,
Discrimination ,
Documentation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Notice Requirements ,
Race Discrimination ,
Racial Bias ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Termination
The EEOC has some new laws in its arsenal (i.e., the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the PUMP Act) and is likely to release new guidance on harassment. Keeping that in mind, we anticipate investigators will be interested in...more
2023 has brought many updates and changes to the legal landscape. Our blog posts have covered many of them, but you may not remember (or care to remember) them. Before moving on to 2024, let’s take a moment to review our top...more
12/29/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exemptions ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Healthcare ,
Income Taxes ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Leave ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations
We’ve been updating you on all the new and upcoming laws, but let’s not forget the basics, like the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The EEOC’s recent settlement with Exact Sciences is a good reminder that we...more
Everyone has been preparing for the recently enacted Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP Act. Earlier this month the EEOC gave us another reason to make sure our policies are up to snuff. Frontier Airlines and the EEOC...more
12/15/2023
/ Breastfeeding ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Settlement
When is driving an essential function of a job? What if the employee drives herself to customers’ homes to provide services and now wants to use alternative modes of transportation? What if the employee’s request is because...more