It's another new year, and like prior years, today's episode identifies the 5 biggest labor and employment questions and issues that employers should be watching in 2025....more
NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo joins Michael Schmidt today to discuss her latest memorandum finding that "stay or pay" provisions in employee agreements constitute illegal noncompetes under the National Labor Relations...more
Host Michael Schmidt is joined by his Cozen O’Connor colleague, Jeff Klamut, to summarize the current regulatory landscape involving artificial intelligence and what employers should be thinking about right now.
...more
In this second part of a two-part series, Michael Schmidt discusses the FTC's new ban on non-competes from yesterday, the DOL's new overtime exemption rule from yesterday, and OSHA's recently-released "walkaround rule." Hear...more
In today's new episode, Michael Schmidt interviews high-level officials from the United States Department of Labor (Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda), the United States EEOC (Commissioner Andrea Lucas), and the NLRB (General...more
In today's special episode, Michael Schmidt again brings back his inaugural guest from February 1, 2017 (Howard Schweitzer, Cozen O'Connor) to talk about the state of politics and the impact on employers, as well as some...more
In this second of two parts to start the new year, Michael Schmidt, vice chair of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment Department, addresses the ten issues that employers should be thinking about in 2023....more
This episode discusses the NLRB's proposed new September 2022 joint employer test in the context of the historical shifting political winds, and what it may mean for employers....more
As we approach the unofficial start to Summer 2022, today's new episode addresses the 10 issues that should be on the radar of all employers....more
5/31/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Caregivers ,
Civil Service Reform Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Employees ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Transparency ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
In today's episode, current EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling joins Michael Schmidt to talk about the benefits, risks, and EEOC position on employer use of artificial intelligence to make employment-related decisions....more
The EEOC recently updated its Covid-19 guidance (on May 7, 2020) to address such issues as medical screening and testing, required reasonable accommodations, and discrimination/harassment issues. Today's new episode provides...more
5/13/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Guidance Update ,
Health and Safety ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Workplace Safety
This is Part 2 of Mike Schmidt's 2-part episode pitting employee/plaintiff-side lawyer Hope Pordy, Esq. against employer/defendant-side lawyer Jeremy Glenn, Esq. to finish debating some interesting HR topics....more
4/17/2020
/ At-Will Employment ,
Code of Conduct ,
Confidential Information ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Exempt-Employees ,
First Amendment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Social Media ,
Unions ,
Work Life Balance ,
Workplace Communication
This is Part 1 of a 2-Part episode that pits an employee-side (plaintiff) lawyer against an employer-side (defendant) lawyer to debate various HR and employment law issues, including such questions as the future of at-will...more
The New York City Council has proposed additional legislation that would have a major impact on businesses falling within the broad definition of “fast food establishments” and has scheduled a hearing on the bills for...more
2/12/2020
/ Advance Notice ,
American Arbitration Association ,
Arbitration ,
At-Will Employment ,
City Councils ,
Covered Entities ,
Employee Rights ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Food Service Workers ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
Layoffs ,
Local Ordinance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Private Right of Action ,
Punitive Damages ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
Statutory Penalties ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules ,
Wrongful Termination
In today's episode, Mike Schmidt is joined by Kelly Trindel, Ph.D, of Pymetrics to talk about the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science in the employment recruitment process, and whether machines...more
In this first new episode of 2020 (Season 4), we look at the 15 hot topics your company should have on your list to think about....more
1/10/2020
/ #MeToo ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
Minimum Salary ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Quickie Election Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Union Elections ,
Unions ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
This episode offers the top 10 new employment laws coming out of New York in the first half of 2019. It is significant for New York employers AND for those employers wondering what trends will be reaching their other...more
7/29/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Breastfeeding ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Pay ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hostile Environment ,
Human Rights ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Local Ordinance ,
Mayor de Blasio ,
New Legislation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
In today's new episode, experts from the Retail Industry Leaders Association and ManpowerGroup Solutions discuss how today's climate of employment regulations (including the new overtime rule, predictive scheduling, and gig...more
3/25/2019
/ Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
E-Commerce ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retention ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Online Distribution ,
Recruitment Incentives ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Retailers ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
This episode outlines the key components of the U.S. Department of Labor’s new proposed overtime rule. Also, antitrust attorney David Reichenberg joins to discuss the antitrust issues that cannot be ignored when looking at...more
3/18/2019
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Criminal Liability ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Minimum Salary ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
This episode presents Part 2 of 2 on workplace issues when employees use marijuana, and also discusses two significant developments from the NLRB involving independent contractors and individual employee gripes....more
1/31/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Drug Possession ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Entrepreneurs ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Right to Control
We're back! This brand new episode addresses the 10 developments you may have missed from this past summer of 2018, including employees secretly recording the workplace, new non-compete legislation, the unstoppable #MeToo...more
9/11/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Legislation ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Opinion Letter ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media Policy ,
State Labor Laws ,
Video Recordings ,
Wage and Hour
This episode flashes back to 1980's 9 to 5 workplace, and then goes back to the future to compare today's workplace of emoji harassment, a new game-changing overtime exemption rule, the 1st ever employer antitrust complaint...more
4/17/2018
/ Attorney General ,
Burden of Proof ,
Car Dealerships ,
Competition ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Emoji ,
Emotional Distress Damages ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Memorandum of Guidance ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Over-Time ,
Payroll Audit Independent Determination program (PAID) ,
SCOTUS ,
Service Advisors ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statutory Construction Test ,
Voluntary Self-Audit ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Communication ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
Is your company thinking about your summer (and other) internship program? This episode presents an interview that Mike just gave on the Sirius XM Wharton Business Channel to discuss the United States Department of Labor’s...more
From federal agency changes to anticipated developments in sexual harassment, paid leave, overtime, and marijuana use, this episode of Employment Law Now provides ten issues that employers should resolve to understand in the...more
1/8/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
FMLA Abuse ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Internal Audit Functions ,
IRS ,
Marijuana ,
Maternity Leave ,
NLRB ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Leave ,
Paternity Leave ,
Primary Beneficiary Test ,
Protected Class ,
Salary/Wage History ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Tax Reform ,
Transgender
“It’s the Relationships, Stupid.” This final episode of 2017 looks back at the topics and guests from volume 1 of the podcast, and somehow ties former President Bill Clinton to today’s operative premise in employer/employee...more