Every employee hired is expected to be a team player and integrate into the employer's culture to cultivate success. However, nearly all employers find out at some point that new hires do not always work out as planned....more
On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") announced a final rule that will increase the Fair Labor Standards Act's ("FLSA") minimum salary threshold for overtime exemptions (the "2024 Rule"). Starting July 1,...more
Attendees of Ward and Smith’s recent annual Employment Law Symposium received insights on key employment law developments in an interactive discussion between Emily Massey, a labor and employment attorney, and Tom...more
12/4/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Descriptions ,
Machine Learning ,
Mental Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan
On August 11, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("NPRM") to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ("PWFA"). PWFA went into effect on June 27, 2023,...more
In the midst of one of the hottest summers on record, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or the "Board") is putting the heat on employers.
In a recent decision issued on August 2, 2023, the NLRB has assumed the...more
The National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") has recently declared a limit on parties' contractual rights that many private employers (and, for that matter many, of their employees) may find distressing. ...more
On October 31, 2022, National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") General Counsel, Jennifer A. Abruzzo, published a memorandum outlining a new framework she intends to use to advocate for restricting overreaching employer...more
Three Ward and Smith labor and employment attorneys analyzed a number of real-life situations many employers are dealing with in the current landscape.
The webinar, part of Ward and Smith's In-House Counsel virtual...more
1/21/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. observed that democracy is messy and hard.
The serial legal battle over COVID-19 and what the federal government can and should make employers do about it illustrates the point. ...more
Litigation usually proceeds at a maddeningly glacial pace. Not this time.
The Past - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ("OSHA") well-publicized and controversial Emergency Temporary Standard ("ETS") was...more
11/17/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
It's a case of "Get Ready, Get Set … Wait! -
On Saturday, November 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in response to a lawsuit filed last Friday by various plaintiffs including the Attorney General of...more
Good (and Not So Good) Things Come to Those Who Wait -
Yesterday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") of the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL"), at long last, issued an "Interim final rule" regarding...more
While the light at the end of the tunnel is visible, the darkness of the COVID-19 pandemic still looms over employers.
Over the last few weeks, states across the nation began taking steps to reduce the restrictions...more
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein identified opioid abuse and cybersecurity as top challenges businesses face, while also giving attendees at Ward and Smith’s 2019 Employment Law Symposium a look at the broad...more
8/1/2019
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Drug Distribution ,
False Billing ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
State Attorneys General ,
Substance Abuse
A new lawsuit for sexual harassment is filed almost on a daily basis somewhere in the United States.
Most of these lawsuits could have been avoided with (1) proper groundwork on the front end, (2) an impartial...more
11/30/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Harassment ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII