If you work in the DEI space, then you’re likely familiar with recent efforts to add “accessibility” to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Even if the term “DEIA” is new to you, your organization may be looking for...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
Many employers may have missed the news about a new federal law protecting pregnant employees and those with childbirth-related medical conditions. After all, it was approved as just one part of a massive omnibus spending...more
After nearly an 18-month delay, Congress just approved the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), requiring covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with medical conditions related to pregnancy and...more
It’s never easy to make accurate predictions about what we might expect to see in the workplace in the coming year. After all:
- At the start of 2020, no one could have predicted COVID-19.
- None of us had heard the phrase...more
11/1/2022
/ Affirmative Action ,
Background Checks ,
Blockchain ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Relations ,
Leave of Absence ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Trade Secrets ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
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
For the first time, a federal appeals court has joined a growing number of district courts and ruled that those with gender dysphoria – a medical condition where an “incongruence between their gender identity and assigned...more
Employers that continue to test workers for COVID-19 should review their policies to ensure they comply with updated guidelines released Tuesday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In prior guidance, the...more
Employers can benefit from using software programs to streamline their hiring process, but federal agencies just sent a stern warning that relying on algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) to make staffing decisions...more
5/17/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bias ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Job Applicants ,
Reasonable Accommodation
The seemingly never-ending pandemic has affected all aspects of the workplace, with employee mental health and well-being becoming one of the top employee-related issues you need to deal with on a daily basis. The EEOC...more
5/3/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Assistance Programs ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Interactive Process ,
Mental Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Wellness Programs ,
Work-Induced Stress
Welcome to FP Forecast, a monthly outlook featuring Fisher Phillips thought leaders providing their insights into what employers can expect in 2022 and beyond. By following along each month, you’ll be in the best position to...more
4/27/2022
/ 401k ,
Car Dealerships ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employment Policies ,
Excessive Fees ,
Gender Identity ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Descriptions ,
Leave of Absence ,
Mental Health ,
Paid Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Institutions ,
Remote Working ,
Students ,
Wage and Hour
Republicans and Democrats in Congress are surprising all of us once again by working together in an effort to pass a law requiring employers to offer reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees. Efforts surrounding the...more
Perhaps no workplace law issue has generated more controversy in recent memory than the battle over the Biden administration’s vaccine rules currently being waged at the Supreme Court. The good news? By accelerating the...more
1/3/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Oral Argument ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
As we predicted would happen in our Insight in July, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission just released guidance to clarify under what circumstances COVID-19 may be considered a disability under the ADA and the...more
The last five years have seen an increase of litigation surrounding Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Syndrome (EHS), also called Wi-Fi Sensitivity, that should be on the radar screen for schools across the country. This is...more
9/8/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Colleges ,
Disabilities ,
Educational Institutions ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
FEHA ,
Interactive Process ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
School Districts ,
Students ,
Title III ,
Universities ,
Wifi
As more businesses are requiring proof of vaccination for their employees and customers, a question that often arises is whether it is lawful to ask an applicant about their vaccine status. While we are generally hesitant...more
The EEOC kicked off the unofficial start of summer with a bang by clearing the way for employers to offer their employees incentives to get the COVID-19 vaccine in new guidance released on the eve of the Memorial Day weekend....more
6/1/2021
/ Confidential Information ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Incentive Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family Members ,
Gifts ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Our firm just published a “Silver Linings Playbook” gleaned from our various practice groups and industry teams highlighting the various ways that businesses can emerge for the better after the pandemic. While educational...more
5/3/2021
/ Colleges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Educational Institutions ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Information Technology ,
Interviews ,
Job Applicants ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Professors ,
Remote Learning ,
Remote Working ,
School Districts ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Universities ,
Videoconference
It’s been said that from crisis comes opportunity. And given that the COVID-19 pandemic has handed us the greatest collective crisis in our lifetimes, it should stand to reason that we should now be in the perfect position to...more
5/3/2021
/ Business Operations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Gig Economy ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Labor Relations ,
Legal Operations ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Remote Working ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
President Biden’s latest infrastructure proposal – called the American Families Plan – includes a plan that would establish the nation’s first permanent federal paid leave program. Unveiled on April 28, the proposed...more
Schools are full of teachers and administrators who want to help children reach their potential. It’s not surprising, then, that the vast majority of educators want to give students the benefit of the doubt when there is a...more
It appears to be official: unless the election results can be overturned in several states, Joe Biden will soon be our nation’s 46th president. Now the work begins to forecast what the next four years will bring. We’ve spent...more
11/9/2020
/ Affirmative Action ,
Biden Administration ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Political Campaigns ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Employers of healthcare providers will soon be required to provide paid sick leave and partially paid family leave to a broader category of employees, and all employers subject to the law now have clarification on a number of...more
9/14/2020
/ Consent ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Notice Requirements ,
Paid Leave ,
Required Documentation ,
Sick Leave ,
Work Availability Requirement
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
9/10/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Medical Leave ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Telecommuting ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Death
As the summer draws to a close, schools are announcing their re-opening plans, which vary widely across states and localities. Some schools plan to remain open several days a week and direct students to attend remotely the...more
8/21/2020
/ Child Care ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EFMLA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
EPSLA ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Medical Leave ,
Paid Leave ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Remote Learning ,
Remote Working ,
School Closures ,
Sick Leave ,
Students ,
Supporting Documentation