Easy? Ha! Last week, I posted about “fun” facts related to drugs and alcohol in the workplace. That post was an prelude to what I’ll talk about today: What employers ought to do. As I pointed out last week, marijuana is...more
9/6/2024
/ Alcohol Testing ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Controlled Substances ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Illegal Drugs ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Warning -- I'm about to go on a rant. Do you ever read something in the news that just makes you go, "Sheesh, people!!!" Or words to that effect? And, no, I am not talking about the Presidential Election.
The Wall Street...more
If you follow these, you should be in great shape. Reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act continues to flummox many employers. But it shouldn’t be that hard, at least not in most cases. Here are...more
8/16/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Documentation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Wage and Hour
The legal challenges relate to "abortion accommodation." Not long ago, I blogged about two legal challenges to the regulations interpreting the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. In one case, 14 state attorneys general filed...more
A lot has changed since Mother's Day 2023. Happy Mother's Day weekend, all, including you dads and kids (we couldn't have done it without you)!
How much do you know about pregnancy in the workplace in 2023? Take our quiz...more
5/10/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Documentation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Healthcare ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII
*And are sorry you asked. Last Friday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published its final regulations on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The regulations will take effect on June 18, just under a year since...more
4/26/2024
/ Abortion ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
At least one judge thinks so. A federal judge in Lubbock, Texas, has permanently enjoined the federal government from enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the State of Texas and its agencies and divisions....more
3/1/2024
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Quorum ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Standing ,
Texas
These steps could help keep you out of trouble.
An employee in a safety-sensitive job who has been diagnosed with cancer is selected for a random drug test. The test result comes back positive for TCHA...more
2/9/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabis Products ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Documentation ,
Drug Testing ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
THC ,
Wage and Hour
Expect to see more of this.
A judge in Connecticut recently dismissed a lawsuit filed by a 26-year employee who developed early-onset Alzheimer's disease. According to the court's opinion, the employee had performed well...more
Was that impolite?
Miss Manners (or her kids, who are doing Judith Martin's old column much of the time) have weighed in on some employment law issues lately.
They really need to stick to advising their audience to send...more
That's one way to get employers to allow remote work.
We all know that employers with 15 or more employees are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act and may have to provide reasonable accommodations to allow...more
As most of you know, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect on June 27, but employers had virtually no guidance regarding how to comply.
The PWFA requires employers with 15 or more employees to make reasonable...more
Nothing you wouldn't already have figured out.
This is not the most exciting employment law news, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued some updates to its technical assistance on COVID-19. According to...more
Happy Mother's Day weekend.
How much do you know about the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which will take effect only six short weeks from now? Take our Mother’s Day quiz and find out! You don’t have to be a mother (or...more
Morals based on a real court decision.
My law partner Jon Yarbrough alerted me to a recent court decision that is full of little gems for employers. I thought I'd break the decision down into "true fables," each with a...more
4/28/2023
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Disability ,
Employment Contract ,
Good Faith ,
Honest Belief Defense ,
Morals Clauses ,
Protected Activity ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Termination ,
Title IX ,
Wage and Hour
Mental illness can cause problems at work, and keep employees from getting help.
If my experience is typical (and it may not be), it seems that a significant percentage of employers’ legal and Human Resources problems come...more
3/31/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Attendance ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Mental Health ,
Performance Reviews ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Social Media ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
"Undue hardship" defense is likely to become tougher.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the undue hardship standard in religious accommodation cases. We expect the standard to become more difficult for employers...more
1/27/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USSERA) ,
Wage and Hour
Pregnancy and lactation accommodation.
Happy new year! Two pieces of legislation included in the $1.7 trillion Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Spending Bill signed into law by President Biden on December 29 will enhance workplace...more
Remember faxes?
I don't. A 70-year-old home health care nurse (RN) has sued her employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act....more
Fictional, but based on a true story.
It was a dark and stormy night.
There I was, the second shift HR supervisor, trying to renew my annual subscription to SHRM during some down time. It was about 9:30 p.m.
"Your credit...more
If so, what will that mean for employers?
Yesterday, President Biden announced that he was pardoning everyone who was criminally convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law. He's also asked state governors...more
10/7/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Controlled Substances ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Pardons ,
Joe Biden ,
Marijuana ,
Presidential Pardons ,
Reasonable Accommodation
Everybody's favorite subject.
Last week, Karla Miller -- the workplace advice columnist of The Washington Post -- had a fascinating letter with this problem:
The letter writer is the only female working on a floor with...more
And, for that, we should be grateful.
This week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its guidance on COVID-19 and the laws that the agency enforces. In my opinion, it's pretty unremarkable....more
While still complying with the ADA.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued some helpful guidance on Friday related to employers' use of artificial intelligence and algorithms and the Americans with Disabilities...more
5/18/2022
/ Algorithms ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Documentation ,
Employee Training ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Guidance ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vendors ,
Wage and Hour
There was this disability discrimination issue . . .
An employer who shall remain nameless had a tradition of throwing a little birthday party for each of its employees on their special day.
The birthday of one employee...more
4/22/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Social Anxiety Disorder ,
Termination ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Violence