How the FLSA “tip credit” is applied has been pushed and pulled numerous times over the last two decades. In the latest volley, the Fifth Circuit entered an order on August 23, 2024, vacating the Department of Labor’s 2021...more
8/29/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
Rate of Pay ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
Tax Credits ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
By now, we all know that the FTC proposed a rule that will ban nearly every noncompete agreement and that a number of companies have filed legal challenges to it. This week, a federal judge in Pennsylvania weighed in, denying...more
With the passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), the law on how you accommodate pregnant workers changed last June, and we blogged about it. Then the EEOC issued extensive regulations last August, and we blogged...more
6/21/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Agenda
Does it seem like you are dealing with more mental health issues in your workforce? If so, you are not alone. Recent mental health claim statistics show an alarming increase in chronic illnesses since the pandemic. For adults...more
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission issued a broad Final Rule that effectively bans noncompete clauses nationwide. The FTC states that noncompete clauses are an unfair method of competition and violate Section 5...more
It is every employer’s nightmare: You find out that employees (or former employees) are claiming that they were not paid properly and are due overtime for the last two or three years. This primarily arises because you...more
You may recall that in 2021 the State of Florida, in a much-publicized move, passed a law called the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” which banned Florida employers from mandating employee attendance to any training or instruction that...more
3/8/2024
/ Class Action ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
First Amendment ,
Florida ,
Race Discrimination ,
Stop Woke Act ,
Title VII ,
Unconstitutional Condition
If an individual’s disability causes involuntary racist or profane utterances, what would a reasonable accommodation under the ADA look like? In Cooper v. Dolgencorp, LLC, the Sixth Circuit faced just such an inquiry....more
Changes in supervision may result in fresh ways of doing things. Certain rules that were never fully enforced may now come to the forefront. Can a new supervisor’s radical change in a long-term employee’s performance rating...more
As this blog has consistently noted in the past, one of the most effective ways to combat unfounded allegations in the workplace is diligent record-keeping. Many employers have “point-based” disciplinary policies in which...more
1/9/2024
/ Absenteeism ,
Discrimination ,
Documentation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Notice Requirements ,
Race Discrimination ,
Racial Bias ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Termination
Today, the NLRB issued their Final Rule on what constitutes joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act. This new rule overrides the old 2020 standard, that was much stricter in what type of control had to...more
For more than 50 years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has required certain employers to submit annual EEO-1s with workforce demographic data (i.e., number of employees by job category and by sex and race or...more
The DOL issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing, among other things, to increase the salary threshold for white-collar overtime exemptions. You may recall that there was a lot of discussion about this back in 2016...more
9/7/2023
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
White-Collar Exemptions
If you are an employer covered by the federal Fifth Circuit (Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi), you are probably familiar with the “ultimate employment decision” standard: In determining whether an employee suffered an...more
No-fault attendance policies may be on a watchlist for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
A recent matter before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, EEOC v. Eberspaecher North America Inc.,...more
Many workplaces allow their employees to listen to music or radio on site. But what if employees choose to blast “sexually graphic” and “violently misogynistic” songs throughout a warehouse? Does it matter whether the...more
Tracking intermittent FMLA time — it’s every HR professional’s favorite thing to do. Do you come up with a total number of hours per employee or just count portions of the workweek? What do you do if an employee takes...more
Do you have a “no fault” attendance policy or some other way in which employees get points for absences? If so, be careful. A recent Eleventh Circuit matter, EEOC v. Eberspaecher North America, Inc. suggests that the Equal...more
Can you require your workers to arbitrate claims? What if they work in interstate commerce? Recently several courts have addressed the scope of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and when it applies to arbitration agreements...more
Mass shootings have been increasingly in the headlines in recent years, and many of these incidents have occurred in the workplace. Regardless of anyone’s politics, employers are having to face either the fear of, or the...more
4/13/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employee Training ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hostile Environment ,
Mass Shootings ,
Risk Management ,
Workplace Communication ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence
On February 28, the White House issued a memorandum giving federal employees 30 days to remove the TikTok application from any government devices. This memo is the result of an act passed by Congress that requires the removal...more
3/2/2023
/ Data Collection ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Information Governance ,
Information Technology ,
Mobile Devices ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Mandates ,
Removal ,
TikTok
Non-compete clauses in employment agreements have been the source of much controversy over the years. Employers want them to protect their human capital and to prevent competitors from stealing their valued employees....more
For employers, figuring out what constitutes an adverse employment action under Title VII may seem elusive. In general, an adverse employment action is an ultimate employment decision that affects job duties, compensation or...more
On December 13, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which passed the Senate and House with bipartisan support. Many see the bill as a reaction to a concurrence in the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v....more
12/16/2022
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Joe Biden ,
LGBTQ ,
Marriage ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
Title VII
If you have or want enforceable non-compete agreements with employees, read on.
Here’s a hypothetical: You are looking to hire a salesperson, and you find just the right person, John. Your company has a great...more