New provisions of the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law went into effect on January 1, 2021. Employers with any workers in Massachusetts should be apprised of these new PFML benefits, which provide...more
New EEOC Conciliation Process Promotes Even Playing Field for Employers -
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published a new proposed rule that would update the Commission’s conciliation process...more
"Joint Employer" Status in the Wage and Hour Context -
A New York federal court has struck down a Final Rule from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that set out a four-factor test to determine “joint employer” status,...more
9/25/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Joint Employers ,
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recently released a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) addressing employers’ obligations to calculate and pay their employees working remotely. This FAB speaks directly to...more
The Department of Labor’s (DOL's) Wage and Hour Division has issued a new set of assistance materials to help employers navigate the evolving challenges facing businesses during COVID-19. These assistance materials come at a...more
7/30/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Policies ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Health and Safety ,
New Guidance ,
Paid Leave ,
Posting Requirements ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Sick Leave ,
Wage and Hour
Gay and Trans Rights under Title VII -
On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County, holding an employer that fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates...more
6/29/2020
/ 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
Study Suggests Employers Face Increased Jury Hostility in the Age of COVID-19
California is well-known as a challenging jurisdiction for employers. The American Tort Reform Association ranked California second on its...more
FOCUS ON WAGE & HOUR -
DOL Updates Overtime Exemption for Commissioned Retail Workers -
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has revised its regulations to simplify the statutory scheme governing whether employees who...more
New York State Leave Protection -
New York has enacted legislation that provides job-protected sick leave and, in some situations, family and disability leave for New York employees required to quarantine or isolate under...more
Supreme Court Issues Unanimous Opinion Upholding But-For Causation in Section 1981 Discrimination Cases -
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a unanimous opinion holding that a plaintiff who sues for racial discrimination in...more
4/16/2020
/ 42 U. S. C. § 1981 ,
Appeals ,
Burden of Proof ,
But For Causation ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Comcast ,
Comcast Corp. v National Association of African American-Owned Media ,
Commercial Contracts ,
Dismissals ,
Employment Contract ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Race Discrimination ,
Racial Bias ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Substantial Motivating Factor Test ,
Television Broadcast Stations ,
Title VII
Equal Pay Act Claims and “A Factor Other Than Sex” – Past Salary Information -
The en banc Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a female employee’s Equal Pay Act claim against her county-employer should be revived....more
Changes and Guidance in the National Employment Sphere -
As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to increase, national employers across the country are moving to remote-work models or suspending work...more
3/30/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Layoffs ,
OSHA ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Telecommuting ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
WARN Act
Pay Equity: Philadelphia’s Salary History Ban Upheld by Third Circuit -
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a First Amendment challenge by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce to a city ordinance that...more
3/3/2020
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
First Amendment ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Local Ordinance ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Recent Changes to NLRB Guidance Regarding Employers’ Policies Involving Employee Communication -
Two recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have significantly overturned earlier rulings regarding...more
1/9/2020
/ Caesars ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Electronic Communications ,
Email ,
Email Policies ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Information Technology ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Protected Activity ,
Purple Communications ,
Section 7 ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
Workplace Investigations
Under the wage orders issued by California’s Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC), “[a]ll working employees shall be provided with suitable seats when the nature of the work reasonably permits the use of seats.” Although...more
11/20/2019
/ CA Supreme Court ,
CVS ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
IWC ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
Safeway Inc ,
Seating ,
Settlement ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders ,
Working Conditions
For the first time in a number of years, overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) have been updated. This modest development increases the earning threshold necessary to exempt executive, administrative...more
11/1/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Job Duties ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
With the advent of California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA), employees can step into the shoes of a state attorney general and bring lawsuits against their employers, seeking civil penalties for Labor Code...more
9/26/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Class Representatives ,
Compensatory Damages ,
Damages ,
Fines ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Law Remedies ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Focus On Whistleblower Protections -
Avoiding and Defending Whistleblower Claims -
Defending Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank whistleblower claims can be costly and complicated. It can be challenging, for example, for a...more
States Impose Sexual Harassment Policy & Training Requirements -
In the wake of the #MeToo Movement, several states have attempted to curb ever-increasing sexual harassment claims through new legislation requiring...more
7/15/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Labor Regulations ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Since the May 5, 2018, amendment of the New York Safe and Sick Time Act (20 NYCRR §§ 20-911 et seq), the New York Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has ramped up compliance investigations of employers, issuing Notices of...more
Set against the backdrop of the women and minority rights movement, the City of Philadelphia is among a number of state and local governments that have enacted legislation intent on reducing or eliminating the wage gap....more
1/7/2019
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Local Ordinance ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sex Discrimination ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
New York State -
As part of a broad agenda to protect and advance women’s equality, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Achieve Pay Equity Law (S.1/A.6075), which expands and changes New York’s equal pay act, N.Y....more
7/13/2018
/ Disparate Impact ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Sex Discrimination ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour