A few weeks ago, we told you the story of Hannah and Bob, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark holding that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being gay,...more
8/4/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Applications ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Gender Identity ,
Grooming Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
Personnel Records ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Termination ,
Title VII
On Monday, August 3, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated several significant provisions of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) “Final Rule” regarding the Families First Coronavirus...more
Employers struggle with COVID-19 for any number of reasons. However, perhaps one of the main challenges they face is how to keep employees safe, even when one of them tests positive for or is exposed to COVID-19. They are...more
7/8/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Contact Tracing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Mobile Apps ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
State and Local Government ,
Virus Testing
To illustrate why an employer violates federal employment law by discriminating against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, the United States Supreme Court majority told the stories of Hannah and Bob. More...more
6/16/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
On May 5, 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued a phased, regional plan for reopening the State’s economy, entitled Restore Illinois: A Public Health Approach to Safely Reopen Our State (the “Plan”). The Plan is...more
5/19/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Executive Orders ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Manufacturers ,
Non-Essential Businesses ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retailers ,
Virus Testing
On April 30, 2020, Governor Pritzker signed Executive Order 2020-32 (COVID-19 Executive Order No. 30) (the “Revised Order”), extending Illinois’ stay-at-home mandate through May 29, 2020. While the Revised Order extends many...more
Since the Department of Labor (DOL) regulations are now finalized, we thought it would be a useful exercise to revisit some of our prior FAQs that relate to the FFCRA and the new regulations. While our prior guidance is...more
On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a temporary rule (“the Rule”), at 29 C.F.R. § 826, regarding administration of the paid leave provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“the...more
The United States Senate passed The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”), without any changes to H.R. 6201, passed by the House earlier this week. The Senate followed suit, passing the Act, including technical...more
On Friday, March 13, 2020, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R.6201 titled the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”). And on Monday, March 16, 2020, the House made corrections to the Act. As...more
This is Foley’s third installment to the Coronavirus FAQs for Employers. We will continue to publish additional FAQs based on inquiries from clients – including best practices as this workplace challenge continues to...more
3/19/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Remote Working ,
Screening Procedures ,
Sick Leave ,
WARN Act ,
Workplace Safety
Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its FY 2019 Performance Report, touting the agency’s successes and statistics for its fiscal year ending September 30, 2019 - and the details reported...more
“Success in creating [Artificial Intelligence] would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks.” It’s almost as if Stephen Hawking, when he made...more
Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued its first three opinion letters of 2019 concerning the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These opinion letters...more
3/20/2019
/ Community Service ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Janitorial Services ,
Leave of Absence ,
Minimum Wage ,
Opinion Letter ,
Over-Time ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour
On January 25, 2019, the Illinois Supreme Court handed down a key ruling that will make it significantly easier for consumers and workers to sue and recover damages for mere non-compliance with the requirements of the state’s...more
As the pool of talented employees tightens, more and more employers are offering perks and benefits to lure the best and the brightest into their ranks. Offering generous benefits for working parents is one of the...more
9/25/2018
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Medical Leave ,
Paid Leave ,
Parental Leave ,
PDA ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
It seems like almost every week we learn of a massive new data breach, risking the loss of thousands of individuals’ personal and confidential information to a faceless hacker halfway around the world....more
5/15/2018
/ Biometric Information ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Hackers ,
International Data Transfers ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes
Yesterday (April 30, 2018) the California Supreme Court issued an opinion on the appropriate test to employ when assessing “independent contractor” classification under state law.
The Court’s unanimous decision throws out...more
As we have reported in the past, utilizing temporary staffing agencies to fill gaps in labor needs can be an efficient and economically beneficial way for companies to meet business demands. This is particularly true in...more
11/27/2017
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Day Laborers ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Temporary Employees ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
As if the start-again, stop-again saga with the U.S. Department of Labor’s rules increasing the minimum salary threshold for exempt workers wasn’t confusing enough, at least one state has jumped into the fray and changed its...more
We have reported time and time again on the national trend of mandating paid sick leave for workers. As we noted last March, in a 2015 Executive Order, President Obama directed the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to issue...more
Late last month, the Chicago City Council unanimously approved a new paid sick leave ordinance requiring virtually every employer in the city to provide at least some paid time off to employees for sick leave purposes. Cook...more
They say that timing is everything — or at least now it is for so-called “constructive discharge” claims. Last month, the United States Supreme Court, in a 7-1 decision, solidified the rule that the time within which an...more
As we have reported several times before, much litigation has been directed at exposing and litigating the uncertainties posed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in the area of donning (i.e., putting on) and doffing...more
3/30/2016
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Class Members ,
Commonality ,
Doffing ,
Donning ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Statistical Sampling ,
Timekeeping ,
Tyson Foods v Bouaphakeo ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Employee wellness programs are frequently a source of ulcer-causing angst for employers, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is making moves to treat some of the underlying issues. Late last week, the EEOC...more
11/4/2015
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Data Collection ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exceptions ,
Genetic Discrimination ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance ,
Incentives ,
Medical Records ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Spouses ,
Wellness Programs