Hop into the time machine with me so I can take a quick victory lap before I revert to being the ever-cautious counselor.
Way back in October 2019, I not-so-subtly indicated my belief that a California statute banning...more
Late last year, I wrote about approaching compliance challenges by thinking as much about the “why” as about the “what” of the compliance requirement. The point I hoped to convey was that inquiring into the question of why a...more
In just the last two weeks, the Illinois Supreme Court dealt two significant blows would be defendants (i.e., employers and consumer-facing companies) under Illinois’ exacting Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA). The...more
As the flipping from one calendar year to the next approaches, many employers understand this is the annual moment to take stock of changes in the law that become effective on Jan. 1 and prepare for compliance.
Given the...more
As the flipping from one calendar year to the next approaches, many employers understand this is the annual moment to take stock of changes in the law becoming effective on January 1st and prepare for compliance. Given the...more
In line with a current trend across the country, the California Senate recently sent a bill to the Governor’s desk that will require certain employers to include compensation information in job postings along with other pay...more
9/7/2022
/ Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Fair Employment Practices Act ,
NAICS ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Transparency ,
Penalties ,
Posting Requirements ,
Private Right of Action ,
Record Retention
Today, the United States Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana, which decided whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts California’s rule invalidating arbitration...more
On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced plans for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an “Emergency Temporary Standard” (ETS) mandating that all employers with more than 100...more
10/19/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Joe Biden ,
OSHA ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State Bans ,
Supremacy Clause ,
Vaccinations
In 2008, Illinois became the first state to enact a Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). BIPA regulates “the collection, use, safeguarding, handling, storage, retention, and destruction of biometric identifiers and...more
On January 20, 1991, the German heavy metal band Scorpions (probably best known for their arena rock anthem “Rock You Like A Hurricane”) released their ballad “Wind Of Change.” The song (in addition to spawning a “conspiracy...more
Last Thursday, the Seventh Circuit issued its fourth opinion in two years addressing Article III standing in the context of Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The court handed the plaintiff in Thornley v....more
1/22/2021
/ Article III ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Retention ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Private Right of Action ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
If it feels like you keep hearing about “independent contractors” as a risk area garnering constant attention, you have a well-calibrated radar. For more than a decade, alleged misclassification of workers as independent...more
Much like everyone these days, for employment law counselors and human resources personnel, our worlds, responsibilities and challenges – as well as those of our clients and companies – are rapidly evolving in response to the...more
The new CARES Act provides Treasury with the authority to make loans, guarantees and other investments, and provide grants for payroll assistance to the aviation industry. On March 30, 2020, the Treasury released guidelines...more
The interplay between arbitration agreements and employment-based class actions has been the subject of extensive and often conflicting legal opinions for the last half-decade. While many hoped the issue would gain clarity...more
As we will describe in this and its companion article, if you are an employer viewing such classifications optimistically in light of some recent legal developments, you should do so fully aware of the attendant perils....more
Welcome news for many employers rolled out of Washington, D.C. earlier this morning. The Supreme Court has ended a long-running debate over the enforceability of arbitration agreements with class action waivers in the...more
5/22/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
AT&T Mobility v Concepcion ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Ernst & Young v Morris ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Murphy Oil v NLRB ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Savings Clause ,
SCOTUS
If you work in human resources, or are an executive or employment lawyer, at some point you probably have thought, heard or said words to the effect of “Juries are very unpredictable and can do some crazy things.” I admit...more
5/22/2018
/ Burden of Proof ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Evidence ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Inconsistent Jury Verdicts ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Retaliation ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Wrongful Termination
The California Supreme Court just threw employers a serious curveball with respect to how employers must calculate overtime. And it did so by claiming employers should have known of this calculation method even though the...more
For the last several years, “joint employment” (whatever that now means legally) has been anything but the gift that keeps on giving for employers. First, joint employment became a tool that the previous Administration locked...more
Human resources professionals could certainly be excused for feeling frustrated with the fact that every technological advance improving business operations comes with new legal landmines to manage. For example, increased...more
No matter your political persuasion, there is little argument that during the second term of the previous administration, multiple federal agencies made landscape-altering changes to federal labor policy. These changes...more
We observed last year that the legal industry is no more immune to the holdovers of sexism than any other profession. As we noted, in a step toward stemming this problem, the American Bar Association has passed a new model...more
3/30/2017
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Best Practices ,
Bias ,
Compliance ,
EEO ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Law Practice Management ,
Legal Ethics ,
Model Rules ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Women in the Law
We normally devote our small corner of the internet to updating you on the latest developments with the goal of helping employers do the right thing, most often from a legal compliance standpoint, but occasionally from a...more
Late last month, the Chicago City Council unanimously approved a new paid sick leave ordinance requiring virtually every employer in the city to provide at least some paid time off to employees for sick leave purposes. Cook...more