The NLRB, in an August 27, 2015, decision, held that two nurses who were requested to voluntarily appear before a hospital’s Nursing Peer Review Committee were entitled to have their union representatives attend the peer...more
Boom! In a 3-2 decision, the National Labor Relations Board spontaneously redefined joint employment in a way that threatens to turn almost every company that works with a staffing agency into a joint employer for collective...more
8/31/2015
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Popular ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Unions
The all-time best The Far Side cartoon (based on an unscientific survey, sample size of me) is the one with two deer standing in the forest, one with a red circular target imprinted on its chest. The other deer says, “Bummer...more
8/19/2015
/ Class Action ,
Collective Actions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
Withholding Tax ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
The all-time best The Far Side cartoon (based on an unscientific survey, sample size of me) is the one with two deer standing in the forest, one with a red circular target imprinted on its chest. The other deer says, “Bummer...more
This Blog is Not about Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, But… “The Internship” fails the first test of merit for a comedy: “Is it funny?” I find that opening line in a review from The New Yorker hilarious. (Funnier than the...more
Things that $228 Million will buy: – LeBron James’s waterfront mansion in Miami, listed for $15 million – A 710-year old copy of the Magna Carta, sold in 2007 for $21.3 million – The Oakland A’s, sold in 2005 for $180...more
The heads of officiating at the Supreme Court called a technical foul on the EEOC for being too Cavalier about its obligation to conciliate before lacing up its Converse All-Stars and heading to court. Mach Mining v. EEOC...more
The core business models of both Uber and Lyft have just been turned over to two separate California juries. These groups of randomly selected citizens will determine whether the drivers for both companies have been properly...more
The playground game of tag has been played since at least the Cretaceous Period, with efforts by paleontologists to verify earlier origins of the game inconclusive to date. As all sophisticated tag players know, the unwritten...more
When job applicant Don Yeager refused to provide a social security number to his prospective employer, he was shown the door. He sued, claiming that identifying himself by a number violated his religious beliefs. In a short...more
An ice cream parlor in Dania Beach, Florida, features The Original Kitchen Sink Sundae, which contains up to 30 scoops, plus chocolate syrup, marshmallows, nuts, whipped cream, and a variety of berries. Customers can choose...more
Everyone’s looking for volunteers. The Salvation Army recruits helpers with the promise of “Doing the most good.” Volunteers of America invites participation by reminding the public “There are no limits to caring.” Even...more
The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $10.2 million in grants to 19 states for continued independent contractor misclassification detection and enforcement. The grants are focused on unemployment insurance programs and,...more
For companies using independent contractors in California, 2014 has been a difficult year, with several significant court decisions threatening the contractor model. In June, the Ninth Circuit rejected the parties’ choice of...more
If your company’s background check disclosure form includes a release of liability, take it out.
Less than a year after a federal district court in Pennsylvania ruled that Closetmaid violated the Fair Credit Reporting...more
Last month we blogged about two Ninth Circuit opinions that deemed FedEx Ground drivers to be employees rather than independent contractors under California and Oregon law. Last week the Kansas Supreme Court joined them,...more
The EEOC’s lawsuit against CVS, which alleged that the company’s severance agreements were impermissibly restrictive, has been dismissed, but not for the reasons employers would have hoped. EEOC v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc., No....more
The NLRB has tossed a new vegetable into the enormous salad of independent contractor misclassification tests. As companies might expect, the new vegetable smells rotten.
Companies who wish to analyze whether their...more
In an opinion that disappointingly failed to take advantage of countless pun opportunities, a federal judge in New York otherwise got it right, ruling that the United States Tennis Association properly classified U.S. Open...more
Last week the Ninth Circuit issued a pair of decisions in the nearly-decade long misclassification dispute between FedEx and its drivers, with the Court of Appeals ruling that drivers in California and Oregon are FedEx...more
The District of Columbia has passed one of the most stringent ban-the-box laws in the nation. The D.C. law includes the typical prohibition on asking questions about criminal background during the application process, but it...more
Criminal background questions on employment applications will no longer be permitted in New Jersey, effective March 1, 2015. New Jersey joins Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Rhode Island to become the sixth...more
Criminal background questions on employment applications will no longer be permitted in Illinois, effective January 1, 2015. On July 19, Governor Quinn signed the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, making...more
When Washington Hospital obtained an insurance policy in 2003 to cover medical claims arising from acts by its employees, its insurer probably did not consider whether hospital employees included workers supplied by a...more
Criminal background questions on employment applications will no longer be permitted in Illinois, effective January 1, 2015. On July 19, Governor Quinn signed the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, making...more