On August 3, 2020, the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a decision in State of New York v. United States Department of Labor, et al. In this case, the State of New York claimed that the...more
On July 21, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) (once again) modified its standard for determining whether employees have been lawfully disciplined or discharged after making abusive or offensive statements,...more
As many states progress through different phases of reopening, companies are preparing for their employees to return to work. Employers are also noting, however, that some states are seeing COVID-19 cases surge....more
7/22/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EDD ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Health and Safety ,
NLRA ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Risk Management ,
State and Local Government ,
Workplace Safety
Since the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) was passed into law on March 18, 2020, crucial questions about the Act’s requirements have remained unanswered. Yesterday (on March 26, 2020), the United States...more
On Wednesday afternoon (March 18), the Senate passed the revised House bill by an overwhelming 90-8 margin. The bill - including the technical corrections made on Monday by the House of Representatives - was sent to the...more
In an important lesson for both employers and employees, on Wednesday, March 4, 2020, a California superior court judge affirmed a $179 million arbitration award against a former Uber executive, Anthony Levandowski, for...more
A recent trend in U.S. employment law has been the adoption of stricter and stricter tests for when a worker may be classified as an independent contractor rather than an employee. Independent contractor relationships are...more
Employers sometimes include fixed terms of employment in their employment agreement. Sometimes a fixed term is meant to prompt the parties to renegotiate at the end of the term....more
Last week, Washington signed into law two new employment laws that may have significant impacts on many Washington employers: a salary history ban and restrictions on non-compete covenants.
Salary History Ban -
On May...more
5/20/2019
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Garden Leave ,
Governor Inslee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Moonlighting ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Wage and Hour
The EEOC has long required employers with more than 100 employees or employers that are federal contractors with 50 or more employees to submit an EEO-1 report every year. The EEO-1 is a compliance survey that requires...more
4/29/2019
/ Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Gap ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Stays ,
Vacated ,
Wage and Hour
Last week, the Washington Supreme affirmed the Court of Appeals in Floeting v. Group Health Cooperative, finding that employers are directly liable when their employees sexually harass members of the public under the...more
Under U.S. law, large employers have an obligation to notify their employees at least 60 days before a “plant closing” or “mass layoff.” This requirement can have serious implications for Canadian companies engaged in M&A...more
1/10/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Canada ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Layoff Notices ,
Layoffs ,
Mergers ,
Notice Requirements ,
Sale of Assets ,
WARN Act
Many Washington employers recently received a series of email alerts from the Washington Employment Security Department (“ESD”) with a reminder that the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave is about take effect on January...more
When one thinks of the law, one often thinks of hard and fast rules. Employers cannot fire employees for a discriminatory or a retaliatory reason. Employees must be paid at least minimum wage. And so on. The law governing...more
The United States isn’t the only country addressing its history of gender inequality, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment. However, the United States is having its own unique experience in doing so. ...more
Like Canada, the United States has federal legislation protecting employees with disabilities. While Canada has the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Human Rights Act, the United States has the...more
The default rule in most U.S. states is at-will employment. This means that either the employee or the employer may terminate the employment relationship at any time, without notice, for any reason—other than a discriminatory...more
There is a widespread myth in this country that the First Amendment protects free speech in the workplace. Employees who loudly state controversial opinions often think the First Amendment protects them from being fired as a...more
In the United States, employers are required to pay employees overtime (1.5 times the employee’s hourly rate) for hours worked over 40 per week. In some states, such as California, employers are required to pay overtime if...more
8/25/2017
/ Administrative Exemption ,
Canada ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Misclassification ,
Multinationals ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Harassment has been in the news a lot lately in the United States, with several high-profile terminations at well-known companies. Companies are losing millions of dollars, not just in settlements and verdicts, but in lost...more
During the Obama administration, the Department of Labor issued guidance letters intended to crack down on the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. On Wednesday, June 7, the DOL announced that it is...more
Canadian employment law is, in many ways, far more employee favorable than U.S. employment law. With the exception of a few states, employment in the United States is “at-will.” ...more
“He’s just the hugging type”—we have all heard one time or another in the workplace. But is there a limit to platonic hugging in the workplace? The Ninth Circuit recently ruled there is....more
It is generally a good idea for companies not to disclose biographical information about their employees, such as marital status, religion, or age. Good HR professionals counsel managers not to ask for such information during...more
Yesterday, in case called Mayne v. Monaco Enterprises, Inc., a Washington Appellate Court struck down an arbitration clause because the employee faced immediate termination if he did not sign. The employee in this case had...more