An employer’s decision to transfer an employee to a lateral job – with no change in pay or benefits – may violate federal civil rights law in some situations if it’s based on discriminatory reasons. According to a SCOTUS...more
4/18/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employee Transfers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Lateral Transfers ,
Muldrow v City of St Louis ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
The Supreme Court may soon clarify whether an employer’s decision to transfer an employee to a lateral job – with no change in pay or benefits – violates federal civil rights law if it’s done for discriminatory reasons....more
1/18/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Transfers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Lateral Transfers ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
The Supreme Court just began a new term, and we’re watching several cases that will likely have a big impact on the workplace. Specifically, the Court will weigh in on whether someone can “test” violations of federal...more
10/9/2023
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Certiorari ,
Chevron Deference ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Transfers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Lateral Hiring ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Title VII ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
When is a job transfer not just a transfer? The Supreme Court will soon decide whether lateral job transfers, with no change in pay or benefits, violates federal civil rights law if done for discriminatory reasons. Read on...more
This detailed set of Frequently Asked Questions, fully updated for 2023, addresses the workplace-related issues facing employers in the wake of hurricane-related disasters. In addition to legal obligations you need to...more
8/28/2023
/ Business Closures ,
Disaster Aid ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hurricane Season ,
Labor Relations ,
Layoffs ,
Leave of Absence ,
Natural Disasters ,
Severe Weather ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
Welcome to FP Retail Industry Snapshot, where we take a quick snapshot look at the most significant workplace law developments with an emphasis on how they impact retail employers. This edition focuses on holiday hiring – a...more
This detailed set of Frequently Asked Questions, fully updated for 2022, addresses the workplace-related issues facing employers in the wake of hurricane-related disasters. In addition to legal obligations you need to...more
9/9/2022
/ Business Closures ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disaster Preparedness ,
Employee Assistance Programs ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hurricane Season ,
Labor Relations ,
Layoffs ,
Leave of Absence ,
Natural Disasters ,
Severe Weather ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
With the rise in remote work, employers are finding themselves subject to a new set of laws based on each employee’s residence – and those finding themselves with workers in Louisiana are no exception. Our state has long held...more
8/16/2022
/ Bonuses ,
EEO ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Louisiana ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Paid Leave ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour
The news that the economy has shrunk for a second straight quarter might not come as a surprise to businesses in the retail industry. After all, the results of our FP Flash Survey on Economic Uncertainty revealed that retail...more
Almost two years into the pandemic, federal workplace discrimination officials issued guidance on when an individual who contracted COVID-19 might have a disability under disability law. The overall tenor of the guidance from...more
Some companies are well known for providing teenagers their first jobs and providing a learning foundation on what it takes to be successful in the workplace. But many retailers have long held policies against employing...more
While Louisiana has not typically been at the forefront of introducing concepts into employment law, the state legislature recently act on two topics that have been seeing increased interest from state and local governments...more
The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that closed hundreds of thousands of business around the country is unprecedented. Fortunately, many retailers were able to maintain a fairly high level of continuity as essential businesses...more
4/24/2020
/ Attendance ,
Business Closures ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health and Safety ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Poor Job Performance ,
Public Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retailers ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
The retail setting is a particularly difficult one in which to make accommodations. This is because retail employees engage in a host of different duties that require all manner of physical activities. Those who are...more
1/8/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Essential Functions ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Descriptions ,
Job Duties ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation
If the Department of Labor has anything to say about it, employers may soon get a bit of a reprieve when it comes to dealing with the administrative and compliance difficulties associated with the Family and Medical Leave...more
In our last issue, we looked at some ideas about how to investigate, catch, and terminate employees who are stealing from your company. In this conclusion, we’ll talk about some ways to avoid—or at least reduce the...more
There’s good news for retailers: you are getting better at preventing shrink from employees. In 2005, a University of Florida study found that employee theft accounted for 47 percent of shrink. In a follow-up study in 2016,...more
4/6/2018
/ Business Assets ,
Defamation ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Investigations ,
Privacy Policy ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Retailers ,
Theft ,
Witness Statements ,
Work Suspensions ,
Wrongful Termination
Numerous individuals who work in retail stores are actually employed by a company other than the retailer itself. These include vendor employees stocking product, sampling employees who offer customers tasty treats, inventory...more
1/4/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Terms ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Indemnification ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
Title VII ,
Vendors ,
Wage and Hour
This list of frequently asked questions was originally prepared by the law firm of Fisher Phillips in 2005, in response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. It has been updated several times over the course of the past 12...more
9/8/2017
/ COBRA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Disaster Preparedness ,
Donations ,
Emergency Response ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Form I-9 ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Hurricane Season ,
Labor Relations ,
Military Leave ,
Natural Disasters ,
Plant Closures ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Severe Weather ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour ,
WARN Act ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
No new hire has ever been accused of enjoying the time spent filling out the myriad forms they must execute at the outset of their employment. Likewise, it would be a curious manager who listed “helping new hires with...more
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court held that retail giant Abercrombie & Fitch committed religious discrimination by refusing to hire an applicant (EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch, read Alert here). The company believed...more
Seasonal hiring is critical to the hospitality industry’s ability to provide service in peak seasons. Whether it is the rush of the winter ski season or the crowded summer months at the beach, employers’ needs fluctuate...more