It just became very easy for an employee to sue their employer for failure to accommodate religious beliefs. Today, in its Groff v. DeJoy opinion, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that an employer must make...more
Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)’s General Counsel publicly announced her position that most non-compete agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by chilling employees’ ability to...more
Last week in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, the Supreme Court affirmed employees must be paid a fixed salary of $684.00 per week to be considered “exempt” under the popular administrative, executive, and...more
Dear Ruder, we are getting lots of long emails from various sources about this proposed noncompete ban. Can you please break this down in easy-to-read language so we don’t have to review the entire 216 pages of the FTC’s...more
Today the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a new poster that is required for employers covered by Title VII. The new poster is entitled “Know Your Rights” and includes these changes...more
Do you have employees in the Viking state? If so, keep reading! On July 1, 2022, Minnesota adopted a new law legalizing the sale, purchase, and consumption of edible cannabinoid products to people aged 21 and over...more
This week I was talking to Bob, a local HR professional (you know who you are), and he asked, “So Sara, what are the chances we are going to get a ruling on this OSHA mandate before the holidays?” to which I replied, “Highly...more
CMS Mandate: At the beginning of December we informed you that a Federal Court in Louisiana issued a nationwide stay on enforcement of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) COVID-19 vaccination mandate. During...more
On Tuesday, December 7, a federal court in Georgia issued an order staying the vaccine mandate for federal contractors (“Mandate”). The Court ordered that the Defendants, which includes President Biden...more
A couple of weeks ago we alerted you regarding the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) COVID-19 vaccination mandates. Reports have emerged today that an injunction has been placed upon this CMS requirement...more
On November 16, 2021, a panel on multidistrict litigation announced that a panel of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit will hear the OSHA ETS litigation. All petitions that have been filed will...more
On November 6, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted OSHA’s latest ETS by issuing an order staying the ETS until the court can conduct a full review. BST Holdings v. OSHA (5th Cir 11/06/2021). The order...more
OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) is here! The ETS and related guidance can be found on its website. By December 5, 2021, employers must implement a vaccine policy in compliance with the ETS (choices are a hard...more
Yesterday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) added more FAQs to its COVID guidance to what is becoming a very long list that started months ago. The EEOC highlights the additional religious exemption guidance...more
On Friday, September 24, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (Task Force) issued its COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors (Guidance) as directed by President Biden in an...more
On Thursday, September 9, 2021, President Biden announced his new COVID-19 plan entitled “Path out of the Pandemic” (Plan). While this Plan includes several provisions, this e-alert highlights a few of those of most interest...more
It was about this time last summer when the U.S. Supreme Court extended Title VII protections to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status. Now the federal agency tasked with...more
Today the EEOC updated its FAQ at Section K regarding vaccination requirements in the workplace. It also issued guidance for employees and job applicants entitled “Federal Laws Protect You Against Employment Discrimination...more
5/28/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Guidance Update ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Happy New Year! As we move into 2021, we know that many of you are considering whether to require employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination. The current COVID-19 vaccines have received Emergency Use Authorization (“EUA”)...more
Wisconsin’s COVID-19 response bill (2019 Wisconsin Act 185) was enacted by the Wisconsin legislature in mid-April. It included provisions to charge unemployment claims caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency to the...more
You are excited to get back to work! However, a few of your employees are not so eager to shed their jammies for pleated pants or steel-toed shoes. Can you force them to return? On the other hand, some employees who are happy...more
7/28/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRA ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
OSHA ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Workplace Safety
On June 17, the EEOC updated its COVID-19 Guidance to clarify that unlike COVID-19 testing, an anti-body test would be a prohibited medical examination. The FAQ (at A.7) states as follows:
Question: The CDC said in its...more
Today the U.S. Supreme Court decided in a 6-3 decision that Title VII provides protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace.
Justice Neil Gorsuch and Chief Justice...more
6/16/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Many of you are reopening (if you were closed) or bringing back staff who were either laid off or teleworking. With this comes MANY questions, such as: CAN we monitor off-duty conduct, and if so, SHOULD we??
If you are a...more
Previously we reported on the EEOC’s post entitled “ What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws.”...more