Tech employers have a wide range of workers, which increases the risk of misclassifying employees as exempt from overtime pay. Since violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) can result in significant penalties and...more
Imagine your virtual assistant did more than just respond to your questions or requests but actually took the initiative, performing complex tasks without needing instructions, learning and improving from each experience....more
1/20/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bias ,
Business Development ,
Business Opportunities ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Employee Engagement ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Internal Controls ,
Machine Learning ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Risk Management
As we close out 2024 and look ahead to 2025, one thing is clear: this has been a year like no other. From a groundbreaking Supreme Court ruling to a pivotal election result that will usher in a new administration, employers...more
12/12/2024
/ Affirmative Action ,
Agricultural Sector ,
Analytics ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
California ,
Car Dealerships ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Workers ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Foreign Workers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitality Industry ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Manufacturing Employers ,
Mexico ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Professional Employer Organization ,
Retailers ,
Sports ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Student Athletes ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Secrets ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Investigations ,
Workplace Safety
A Florida state appellate court just issued a ruling raising the bar for workers pursuing whistleblower claims and making it easier for employers to defeat lawsuits before trial – but created a conflict with another appellate...more
Tech industry employers may want to boost their anti-discrimination efforts as the federal government recently decided to shine a spotlight on low diversity in many high-tech occupations. Although tech employers have made...more
10/28/2024
/ Age Discrimination ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Bias ,
Diversity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Race Discrimination ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Technology Sector ,
Wage and Hour
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced a settlement to resolve a discrimination charge alleging an employer terminated a pregnant employee after she requested a reasonable accommodation to...more
9/25/2024
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Undue Hardship
Even though the FTC’s impending rule that will ban most non-competition agreements specifically carves out claims for violations that accrue before the rule goes into effect – an exception that many federal courts have...more
8/16/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Restrictive Covenants
A hotel manager was recently held individually liable for violations of federal wage and hour law under a broad definition of “employer.” Although the ruling applied to a unique set of facts – including that the manager was...more
7/25/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Managers ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Personal Liability ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
A federal appeals court recently held that an employer’s health insurance plan wrongly excluded coverage for gender-affirming care in violation of federal civil rights law – offering a warning to employers across the country...more
6/12/2024
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Health Insurance ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
The seemingly mundane task of fueling a boat is fraught with hidden risks and potential liability for marina owners and operators, especially when it comes to dangers from fire and bloodborne pathogens. As you navigate the...more
Two recent court rulings provide a roadmap for Florida employees and their attorneys to take their claims all the way to trial by building a convincing mosaic of circumstantial evidence. This means that now more than ever,...more
2/22/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Best Practices ,
Bias ,
Discipline ,
Documentation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Evidence ,
Florida ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Descriptions ,
Performance Reviews ,
Retaliation
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers recently enacted significant tort reforms designed to restrict plaintiffs pursuing negligence claims – but which could give an unexpected boost to those pursuing costly...more
4/11/2023
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Emotional Distress Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Florida ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medical Expenses ,
Negligence ,
New Legislation ,
Physicians ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statutory Authority ,
Tort Reform
Federal wage officials recently announced that two Florida restaurants with common ownership failed to properly calculate overtime pay when their employees worked at both locations in the same workweek – sending a stark...more
3/22/2023
/ Back Pay ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Joint Employers ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Nearly a year has passed since the NCAA’s unprecedented adoption of its interim policy removing long-standing restrictions for student athletes who want to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Since then,...more
6/22/2022
/ College Athletes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Fair Market Value ,
Joint Employers ,
Name and Likeness ,
NCAA ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Student Athletes ,
Whistleblowers
The pandemic has taught employers that flexibility is key to survival – and thanks to a new law just signed into effect on May 11, Florida employers will not have to worry that any emergency actions they take to aid gig...more
An arbitrator recently ruled that the University of Connecticut owes its former men’s basketball coach more than $11 million after determining the school violated a collective bargaining agreement by firing him without just...more
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed the Combating Corporate Espionage in Florida Act into law, and it will take effect on October 1, 2021. The new law was created to protect intellectual property in Florida from...more
After much discussion over the last year, Florida’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) legislation for college athletes will go into effect on July 1, allowing college athletes to receive compensation based on their name, image...more
6/9/2021
/ Advertising ,
College Athletes ,
Compensation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Endorsements ,
Marketing ,
Name and Likeness ,
New Legislation ,
Social Media ,
Student Athletes ,
Written Agreements
It’s been said that from crisis comes opportunity. And given that the COVID-19 pandemic has handed us the greatest collective crisis in our lifetimes, it should stand to reason that we should now be in the perfect position to...more
5/3/2021
/ Business Operations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Gig Economy ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Labor Relations ,
Legal Operations ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Remote Working ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
With the click of a pen, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law — the most aggressive of its kind compared to others passed across the country — that protects businesses, educational and religious institutions,...more
3/31/2021
/ Causation ,
Clear and Convincing Evidence ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Government Entities ,
Governor DeSantis ,
Gross Negligence ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Legislation ,
Religious Institutions ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statutory Immunity
This week, Governor Ron DeSantis and many of Florida’s largest counties issued orders carefully detailing if and how businesses across the state may re-open. Fisher Phillips has reviewed the relevant orders, which are...more
Lyft recently filed for an initial public offering with the hopes of raising as much as $2.1 billion. As part of its registration statement for its IPO, Lyft acknowledged the company could be negatively impacted by several...more
3/19/2019
/ Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Local Ordinance ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
New Regulations ,
Sharing Economy ,
Wage and Hour
As the competition to secure investments with startups continues to increase, venture capitalists are discovering new ways to strengthen their relationships with potential investment partners. In addition to listening to...more