Job Description Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
HR Law 101 Ep.4: What You Need to Know About Creating Effective Job Descriptions
The rise of remote work has forced employers to tackle one challenge after another – and now the biggest challenge is effectively managing remote and hybrid workforces for the long term. When the pandemic hit, many employers...more
On April 15, 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final rule interpreting and providing guidance on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)....more
During the COVID-19 pandemic and afterwards, employers have faced a growing number of requests for remote work arrangements based on a medical disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to grant...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment award on an employee’s failure-to-accommodate claim. The Court’s decision focused on the employer’s improperly narrow delineation of the...more
In a case that helps employers understand what a “reasonable accommodation” is, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a lower court’s ruling of summary judgment for a Georgia employer who was accused of...more
Artificial intelligence (AI) can help streamline business processes making workers more efficient and driving costs down for the consumer. What happens, though, when an employer uses AI in hiring decisions?...more
On September 15, 2021, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an employer. In Brown v. Austin, the Tenth Circuit found that an employee’s telework, weekend work, and...more
There is no exhaustive list of potentially reasonable accommodations. Whether an accommodation is reasonable will depend on the unique circumstances of each instance, including the particular employee’s limitations and...more
It’s official. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has successfully expanded to television. While Marvel has had previous forays into this medium (including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and various shows on Netflix), WandaVision...more
An employer’s past leniency in applying and enforcing its attendance policy did not contradict the employer’s later position that regular worksite attendance was required for employment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...more
In the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2002 Barnett decision, the court held that qualified disabled employees are entitled to reassignment to an existing vacant position under the Americans with Disabilities Act if they become unable...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Athleisure company is rightfully able to terminate the employment of individual with physical limitations, despite that individual’s ability to delegate such functions of her position. See Tonyan v....more
One of the most obvious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the record-high number of individuals in Massachusetts who have filed for unemployment. Roughly 75% of those job losses are considered temporary, with employers...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 7, 2020, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (“EOHED”) issued its updated COVID-19 Essential Services FAQs, providing more details on what is and what is not...more
A North Carolina federal trial court recently denied an employer’s request to dismiss a former employee’s disability discrimination and retaliation claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The case provides a...more
The retail setting is a particularly difficult one in which to make accommodations. This is because retail employees engage in a host of different duties that require all manner of physical activities. Those who are...more
What happens if you give an employee an accommodation that goes above and beyond what the ADA requires? Can you change your mind down the road and stop providing that accommodation? Or are you stuck providing that...more
In Popeck v. Rawlings Company, LLC, No. 19-5092 (October 16, 2019), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Rawlings Company on Popeck’s claims under the Americans with Disabilities...more
Heeding the adage “no one knows what the future may hold,” the Seventh, Eighth and Eleventh Circuits have uniformly refused to extend protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to employees with a perceived risk...more
On October 29, 2019, a panel of Seventh Circuit Appellate Court Judges held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not cover alleged discrimination based on future impairments. Shell v. Burlington N. Santa Fe Ry....more
The Sixth Circuit previously explained in Hostettler v. College of Wooster, 895 F.3d 844 (6th Cir. 2018) that regular, in-person attendance is not a per se essential function of every job. Rather, employers must tie...more
A recent case from a federal court highlights the importance of accurate job descriptions. In Wiggins v. City of Montgomery, Plaintiff applied for a promotion to the position of Revenue Examiner on three occasions over an...more
Job descriptions are a crucial part of recruitment and hiring, and of performing an Equal Pay Act Analysis, classifying employees for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and developing reasonable accommodations under...more
This month's key California employment law cases involve EEOC charges, disability discrimination, and meal breaks....more
Employers in Ontario will likely welcome the decision in Katz et al. v. Clarke, 2019 ONSC 2188 (Divisional Court), which addressed the scope of the duty to accommodate in the event of an employee’s permanent disability. ...more