The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry has implemented new regulations under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA) that go into effect on August 5, 2022. The regulations make a number of important changes for...more
During its latest legislative session, West Virginia passed Senate Bill 245, thereby enacting several changes to its wage payment provisions using payroll cards. These changes become effective on June 9, 2022, 90 days after...more
A private employer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy does not violate public policy under West Virginia’s common law retaliatory discharge doctrine, a federal judge has held, rejecting an employee’s claim against the...more
In the U.S. Congress’ latest proposal to strike against arbitration, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott introduced the Restoring Justice for Workers Act. The...more
A Pennsylvania court recently addressed whether a deponent could be compelled to remove a face mask during his deposition after the deponent refused, citing health concerns. After rescheduling the deposition once,...more
On July 27, 2021, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto signed Section 626B of the City of Pittsburgh Code—also known as the Temporary COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Ordinance. Under the Ordinance, employers with over 50 employees must...more
This past weekend, Governor Tom Wolf’s new legislation went into effect, expanding Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Act (MWA) regulating overtime pay. The legislation increases the minimum salary an employee can earn and still be...more
Finding the good intentions behind COVID-19-related safety orders laudable but insufficient to overcome liberty interests in the rights to free assembly, due process, and equal protection, a federal judge in Pittsburgh has...more
The Pennsylvania legislature has amended the state law on unemployment compensation to require employers in the Commonwealth to provide employees at the time of separation with notice of the availability of unemployment...more
Employers are struggling to balance competing priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include, for example, reducing costs, maintaining workforces, and ensuring employee safety and economic welfare. In many states, a...more
West Virginia may have been the last state to report a positive case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), but it has been quick in its response. Governor Jim Justice issued a stay at home order and closed all non-essential...more
In the late afternoon of Thursday, March 19, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf issued an Order requiring that all non-life sustaining businesses close their physical locations by 8:00 p.m. that evening. This Order came shortly...more
Pennsylvania has delayed enforcement of Governor Tom Wolf’s March 19 Executive Order requiring all non-life-sustaining businesses to close their physical locations to 8:00 a.m. on Monday, March 23 (previously, 8:00 p.m. on...more
In a long-awaited decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has concluded that the fluctuating workweek (FWW) pay method is not a proper method of overtime pay calculation under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA)....more
A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit has struck down U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab’s decision granting class certification in a suit brought by mortgage loan officers claiming they were denied overtime pay by their...more
On Friday, November 16, 2018, the Department of Education (DOE) released proposed Title IX regulations dictating the process by which colleges and universities must handle allegations of sexual misconduct.
Institutions of...more
The final amendments to the Federal Civil Rules of Procedure, including amendments to Rule 23 class actions, are waiting for approval from Congress. The primary changes to Rule 23 affect the class action notice and settlement...more
Frustrated by years of unsuccessful efforts to raise the minimum wage through the state’s Republican-controlled legislature, and in response to the recent federal court invalidation of the Obama-era DOL’s rule that would have...more
A recent decision from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals involving the nature of the evidence sufficient to create a jury question on willfulness has carved out additional guidance for employers defending against Fair Labor...more
West Virginia’s right to work law will be enforceable beginning October 15, 2017. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, has dismissed a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking...more
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on September 22, 2017, released Title IX interim guidance, while rescinding Obama-era policies, for handling sexual assault cases on college campuses .
Specifically, the Department of...more
Plaintiff-employees cannot pursue a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Section 1983) for rights created under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal appeals court in Philadelphia has...more
Department of Education regional directors have been given new instructions on sex discrimination protections for transgender students under Title IX of the Education Act of 1972. Two updated, internal Office of Civil Rights...more
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has affirmed a lower court’s ruling invalidating the Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days Act (“PSDA”), the ordinance adopted in 2015 requiring all employers of employees within the Pittsburgh city...more
Wheeling has become West Virginia’s eleventh city to pass a sexual orientation and gender identity anti-discrimination ordinance protecting the housing and employment rights of LGBTQ residents. The ordinance also protects...more