The Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion in Groff v. DeJoy (opinion here) on June 29, 2023, holding that Title VII requires an employer denying a religious accommodation to show that granting the...more
7/3/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Certiorari ,
Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS
In February 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) ruled in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023), that employee severance agreements with overly broad confidentiality and nondisparagement provisions...more
Under a newly issued decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board), “an employer violates Section 8(a)(1) of the [National Labor Relations] Act when it proffers a severance agreement with provisions that...more
2/28/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Section 7 ,
Severance Agreements
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held on October 24, 2022, in Cariene Cadena et al. v. Customer Connexx, LLC et al., No. 21-16522, that the time a group of call center workers spent booting up their computers...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its long-awaited emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring all employers with a total of 100 or more employees to mandate...more
11/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Remote Working ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On October 25, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its guidance related to the COVID-19 pandemic, adding a brand-new section addressing religious objections to COVID-19 vaccine...more
11/2/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Guidance Update ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
With the surge of COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant, many employers are considering whether to require employees to be vaccinated, how to encourage employee vaccinations, and the implications of vaccine policies for...more
9/1/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Incentives ,
Masks ,
Paid Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
According to a legal opinion posted online on July 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice officially took the position that the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA)—which authorizes an “emergency use authorization” (EUA) for...more
7/29/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
Vaccinations
With multiple states rolling out phased access to COVID-19 vaccines, many employers are considering whether they want to require employees to be vaccinated, how to encourage employee vaccinations, and the implications of...more
2/2/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reimbursements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Secretary of HHS ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
A COVID-19 vaccine authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use has arrived in the United States and is being widely distributed to select groups as we issue this update. It is more than likely...more
12/17/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
FDA Approval ,
Health and Safety ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Final Rule revising the joint employer regulations under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) took effect on March 16, 2020, (Final Rule). On September 8, 2020, the Hon. Gregory H....more
9/15/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Records ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Misclassification ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Subcontractors ,
Wage and Hour
In June 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) revised the optional-use Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) forms available for employers to provide required notice to employees and for employees to provide certification of...more
“An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law.”
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because of their race, color,...more
6/18/2020
/ 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
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives shortly before 1:00 a.m. on March 14, 2020. H.R. 6201 amends several existing federal laws and creates new law to address the...more
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives shortly before 1:00 a.m. on March 14, 2020. H.R. 6201 amends several existing federal laws and creates new law to address the...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s pending Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulation raising the minimum salary levels for “exempt” white collar employees was blocked by a federal district court judge in the Eastern...more
11/28/2016
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Popular ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The Supreme Court issued its decision in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo on March 22, 2016. The Court held that a group of employees in a class action could use a statistical study to establish the employer’s liability for...more
3/29/2016
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Doffing ,
Donning ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Statistical Sampling ,
Tyson Foods v Bouaphakeo ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour