We’ve all been there: An employee takes time off (think FMLA or other protected leave), and then you need to take an adverse employment action. Can you do so and risk the inevitable retaliation claim?...more
1/2/2026
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Appellate Courts ,
Best Practices ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Interference Claims ,
Managers ,
Notice Requirements ,
Performance Reviews ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Wrongful Termination
President Trump’s sweeping AI Executive Order just stitched another layer onto the already tangled patchwork of state AI regulations — and employers may feel left out in the cold. But we have you covered....more
12/26/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Innovative Technology ,
Machine Learning ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
State and Local Government ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department
New Year, new legislation — California and New York are leading the way in restricting certain “stay-or-pay” provisions in employment contracts. These types of provisions are relatively common....more
12/19/2025
/ California ,
Contract Drafting ,
Contract Terms ,
Employee Mobility ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Private Right of Action ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Unconscionable Contracts
As the year comes to a close, year-end performance reviews are in full swing. While these reviews may not be everyone’s favorite part of the job, they remain an important tool to support workplace development....more
12/12/2025
/ Best Practices ,
Employee Engagement ,
Employee Evaluations ,
Employee Monitoring ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Job Descriptions ,
Managers ,
Performance Reviews ,
Personnel Records ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Talent Management ,
Workplace Communication
Recently the Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued multiple items on national origin discrimination and anti-American bias....more
12/5/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
Title VII
In The Muppet Christmas Carol, the “Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come” escorts Ebenezeer Scrooge back to a graveyard after taking Scrooge through a disturbing future, prompting Scrooge to say, “Must we return to this place?”...more
11/25/2025
/ ADEA ,
COBRA ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
H-1B ,
Involuntary Reduction in Force ,
NLRA ,
Retaliation ,
Severance Agreements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour ,
WARN Act
Whether it’s literal clockwork, the turning of the leaves, or the beginning of the holiday hubbub, fall is a season of change. Employers are noticing, too....more
11/21/2025
/ Compliance ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Involuntary Reduction in Force ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
Layoffs ,
Mini-Warn Acts ,
Notice Requirements ,
Penalties ,
Reduction of Force ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
State Labor Laws ,
Termination ,
WARN Act
When did you last update your employee handbook? With the end of the year nearing, now is a good time. Your policies should provide clear guidelines to your workforce about what you expect of them....more
11/13/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employment Policies ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Investigations ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Risk Management
Like almost every federal agency, things have certainly changed at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the last 10 months. One of those significant changes has been the departure from investigation of claims...more
Most construction contracts include a provision stating that the contractor or subcontractor is an independent contractor and not an employee of the owner or contractor. That should settle the matter, right? Wrong. Depending...more
10/29/2025
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Enforcement ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Penalties ,
State Labor Laws ,
Subcontractors
For those thinking that classifying workers as independent contractors is a cheaper way of doing business, beware. A California court just ordered a home healthcare business to pay $10 million in restitution and civil...more
10/17/2025
/ California ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Because our lawmakers were unable to resolve their differences over the federal budget, the United States federal government shutdown on October 1, 2025, and continues to be shutdown. As a result, approximately 750,000...more
10/9/2025
/ Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Federal Funding ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Shutdown ,
OSH Act ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Safety
Employee activity on social media is a hot topic. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed a case in which a university employee was denied opportunities following a Twitter tirade. The court affirmed that the...more
10/3/2025
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Appellate Courts ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Gender Identity ,
Retaliation ,
Social Media ,
Social Media Policy ,
Telecommunications ,
Transgender ,
Universities
On September 19, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation regarding the use of H-1B nonimmigrant visas. That same day, the Department of Labor announced Project Firewall, an H-1B enforcement initiative. Below, we...more
“I’m speaking my mind because I have a right to free speech.” We’ve all heard that haven’t we? In the words of Lee Corso: “Not so fast, my friend.” The First Amendment gives protection from governmental action. So, in most...more
9/19/2025
/ At-Will Employment ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
Private Sector ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Public Employers ,
Social Media ,
Title VII ,
Whistleblowers
Can you have noncompetes with employees or not? For a long time, state law governed the enforceability of noncompetes and then in April 2024, the Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission voted to ban noncompete...more
You want a safe workplace and have adopted a Drug Free Workplace policy. You may even have government contracts that require you to drug test your employees. How does the brave new world of legalized marijuana, medical...more
9/5/2025
/ At-Will Employment ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Hemp ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State Labor Laws ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
THC ,
Workplace Safety
Are home health and personal care workers eligible for overtime? That is a more complicated question than it first appears. In fact, it could be about to change again as certain providers of home health and personal care...more
8/28/2025
/ Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Exemptions ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Field Assistance Bulletins ,
Health Care Providers ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Wage and Hour
An employee tells you a customer just harassed them — what should you do? In Bivens v. Zep, Inc. the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals charts its own course in addressing employer liability for third-party harassment. The Equal...more
8/20/2025
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hostile Environment ,
Non-Employees ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Third-Party Harassment ,
Title VII ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
Following a number of 2025 executive orders and combined guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice (DOJ) targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, a July 29,...more
Just this week, in Richards v. Eli Lily & Co., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals became the third circuit to depart from the long-standing Lusardi standard for distributing notice to potential plaintiffs in collective...more
8/7/2025
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Appellate Courts ,
Collective Actions ,
Document Management ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Job Descriptions ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Notice Requirements ,
Wage and Hour
If an employee complains about a sexually suggestive picture circulating in the workplace that looks like her but is not, is that a hostile work environment complaint? It might be. In Lillian Carranza v. City of Los Angeles,...more
7/31/2025
/ Appeals ,
California ,
City of Los Angeles ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Damages ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hostile Environment ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
While artificial intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool in a manager’s arsenal when it comes to efficiently making decisions, it is essential to use it ethically and fairly. Companies are no longer relying on AI solely to...more
7/24/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Best Practices ,
Bias ,
Bots ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Technology
Maybe you are one of the lucky employers who has not been sued in court or received a charge filed with a federal or state agency enforcing employment laws, like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the...more
The Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. The BBB is a complex budget reconciliation law (a law that follows a special procedure for more simplified passage) that contains over a thousand...more
7/10/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Dependent Care ,
Employee Benefits ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Budget ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Medicaid ,
New Legislation ,
One Big Beautiful Bill Act ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tips ,
Trump Administration