While the return of spring is a happy time for baseball fans, employers may be feeling a little less festive this April. Companies across the U.S. have been bracing for two significant regulations that were expected to be...more
4/24/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Biden Department of Labor Rolls out (Yet Another) “Independent Contractor” -
Legal Standard Misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor can have significant ramifications for a business, particularly in terms...more
1/17/2024
/ ABC Test ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Multi-Factor Test
Over the past decades, standards for profanity, inappropriate social media use, and other workplace issues commonly addressed in employee handbooks have changed along with the political makeup of the National Labor Relations...more
If all goes to plan, New York City will soon join six other cities and a state that have enacted legislation banning employers from discriminating against applicants and employees on the basis of their height or weight. Such...more
A huge change could be coming to the enforceability of non-compete agreements—and it might be very bad news for employers who rely on such agreements to protect their businesses. On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade...more
1/9/2023
/ Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms ,
Unfair Competition
For the third time in less than ten years, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) stands ready to alter the “Joint Employer” test. Its stated motive this time is to provide a “clear standard for defining joint...more
Employers sometimes favor resolving disputes with their employees in arbitration as opposed to in front of a jury. Such a private tribunal may streamline discovery procedures, offer a quicker resolution, and, theoretically,...more
Join our labor and employment team on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, at noon, as they bring their popular blog HR Legalist to life.
As the dust continues to settle after a tumultuous two years, the modern workplace has been...more
5/20/2022
/ Continuing Legal Education ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Events ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Marijuana ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Remote Working ,
Wage and Hour
Last month, New Jersey joined the budding list of states to legalize recreational cannabis. In fact, as of this post, only three remaining states do not permit either recreational or medical cannabis use (with the federal...more
The notorious “ABC” test continues to rear its head across the nation. This strict, worker-friendly test that is used to determine whether a worker is properly classified as an independent contractor as opposed to an employee...more
In January of 2020, California enacted a new law that codifies a strict test for determining if workers are independent contractors or employees and thereby entitled to minimum wage, overtime, and various other benefits. ...more
10/15/2021
/ ABC Test ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Preemption ,
Split of Authority ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trucking Industry ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Thanks to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, workers in the Commonwealth are now more likely to be considered “fair game” to other potential employers, even in the presence of an agreement otherwise between...more
March 2021 has been a busy month in Washington, D.C. In addition to the passage of the American Rescue Plan (which includes tax updates relevant to employers), there have been three notable developments in the labor and...more
3/19/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Tipped Employees ,
Trump Administration ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
Under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (“WARN Act”), employers with more than 100 employees are generally required to provide a minimum of sixty (60) days’ notice prior to a plant closing or mass...more
As HR Legalist predicted, President Biden is taking steps to swing the pendulum in an employee-friendly direction. While implementing substantive changes may take some time in light of the administrative procedures required,...more
Newly inaugurated President Joe Biden recently outlined his plans to hit the ground running in his first 100 days in office, including a $1.9 trillion spending bill that he hopes the Democrat-controlled Congress will pass...more
Recent events in Washington D.C. and elsewhere have heightened tensions across the United States and led to renewed questions from employees and employers regarding how to respond to political speech inside (and outside) the...more
1/18/2021
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Hate Speech ,
Insurrection ,
NLRA ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Political Speech ,
Private Sector ,
Protests ,
Public Employers ,
State Labor Laws
On Friday, January 1, 2020, New Jersey’s minimum wage increased to $12.00 per hour, pursuant to the bill that had been executed by Governor Phil Murphy back in 2019. The long-term purpose of this law is to gradually increase...more
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, providing funding for the government as well as COVID-19 relief. Among other provisions relevant to businesses (summarized here), the...more
Fourth in a Series of Blogs Regarding the Presidential Transition -
On January 1, 2020, AB-5 went into effect in California. The law, which had gig workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers squarely in its sights, sought to...more
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney recently signed an amendment to Philadelphia’s paid sick leave law, which provides paid leave to workers not already covered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). Companies...more
The “joint employer” test, which determines which organizations are liable for employee discrimination, wage and hour, and labor law claims, has in many ways resembled a game of legal “Whack-A-Mole” over the years. Indeed,...more
On August 8, 2020, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum deferring certain payroll tax obligations for employees from September 1 through December 31, 2020. The memo permits employees to defer payment of the 6.2%...more
Please note that this is a developing area of law, concerning unprecedented public health challenges. This webinar includes the most up-to-date information available as of the date of the presentation. However, laws and best...more
As previously covered here, the California Legislature has long been searching for a way to prevent employers from requiring prospective employees to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment without running...more