Department of Labor regulations issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 C.F.R. § 785.18) state that any break time less than 20 minutes for nonexempt employees is considered compensable working time. Earlier this month,...more
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) prohibits publicly held employers from retaliating against employees who report illegal conduct that could have a material impact on shareholders. Since SOX was enacted, federal courts have issued...more
On October 12, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals partially approved and partially rejected an unusual pay plan designed to satisfy federal minimum wage requirements. In Stein v. HHGregg, Inc., the employer placed retail...more
On October 12, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a measure that prohibits employers from using salary history at prior jobs to determine starting pay for applicants. The law will also require California...more
In a recent string of decisions, federal courts have concluded that use of racial epithets even on one occasion is sufficient to constitute a hostile work environment under Title VII. Thus, use of the N-word and other...more
The federal government’s intent to increase restrictions on legal and illegal immigration is no secret to any U.S. business. The Trump administration’s various proposals have included ones intended to deal with perceived...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with medical disabilities. The ADA also prohibits employers from disclosing information about an employee’s medical...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act does not require employers to always allow disabled people to return to the job. In order to claim protection under the law, the disabled employee must show that he or she can perform the...more
When an employer provides an employee with a release and settlement agreement, the document regularly includes provisions that prohibit the employee from criticizing the employer and related parties. Several years ago, the...more
Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum to U.S. Attorneys announcing that the Department of Justice has reversed its position on the coverage of transgender people as protected under Title VII of the...more
Employees who receive gratuities may qualify for a special federal minimum wage set well below the standard $7.25 per hour. Employers are entitled to use the employees’ tips to reach the full minimum wage under the Department...more
Any employer that has been the subject of e-discovery requests can attest to the difficulty and expense encountered when compiling and producing company electronic communications. These burdens have been further exacerbated...more
From time to time, we encounter businesses described by their owners as managed and operated under Christian principles. The owners explain that they use their personal faith to guide their business decisions, including...more
Perhaps the most frequent question we receive with regard to employee medical leave involves the following scenario: An employee requests and is provided family and medical leave. Upon the expiration of the 12-week FMLA...more
Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), employers are prohibited from hiring persons not authorized to work in the U.S. In order to resolve some employment disputes, employers agree to reinstate an...more
A few years ago, several Silicon Valley employers made news when they were accused of agreeing among themselves not to solicit each other’s programmers and software engineering employees. These employees are in high demand,...more
Unlike private sector employers, federal contractors are subject to an executive order that requires payment of a minimum wage in excess of the $7.25 federal level. In addition, that minimum adjusts annually based on cost of...more
For years, federal courts have held that pregnancy and sex discrimination laws do not require employers to affirmatively accommodate breastfeeding by employees. However, a recent line of cases has blurred this conclusion,...more
In most cases in order to demonstrate a hostile working environment due to sex, a plaintiff must show multiple incidents of harassment over a period of time. However, in some situations, allegations of harassment that occur...more
The European Union has taken a substantially different approach than the United States to employee online privacy rights. Upcoming ePrivacy regulations promise to limit employers’ ability to monitor employee electronic...more
Under federal labor law, employees involved in a labor dispute with their employer have the right to seek assistance from the company’s customers. On August 14, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rejected a claim from...more
Employers continue to face disability discrimination claims from employees who argue that their medical conditions give them a right to work from home as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act...more
Not every action that an employee views as negative can serve as the basis for a claim of discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In order to state a claim for relief, federal courts have held that the...more
Under most employers’ anti-discrimination and harassment policies, an employee who makes overt racist comments toward a co-worker would likely face termination. In addition to the moral and ethical purposes behind such...more
Two recent major news stories again involve the intersection of politics with employment law. In the first matter, Google fired a programmer after he posted an internal document criticizing the company’s diversity...more
8/23/2017
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Diversity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Google ,
Hate Speech ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Political Expression ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation