Category: Best Practices
Are Your Employee Technology Policies from the Dark Ages?
With technology advancing at the current rate, the dark ages referenced isn't ten or fifteen years ago, but instead, two or three. If your capacity for reviewing policies and practices at the beginning of the year is limited, working with your information technology department and crafting up-to-date and relevant...
EEOC's Five Core Principles for Preventing and Addressing Harassment
Last week the EEOC released proposed Enforcement Guidance on Unlawful Harassment with a Press Release noting that the proposed Guidance is available for input until February 9, 2017. Information on how to provide feedback on the Guidance is available here . Whether one chooses to provide feedback or not...
NLRB Confronts Confrontational Clothing Ban
Earlier this year, the National Labor Relations Board, in Medco Health Solutions of Las Vegas, Inc. , 364 N.R.R.B. No. 115 (Aug. 27, 2016), found that a dress code policy that banned "confrontational" clothing banned federal labor law. The case, stemmed from an incident in which the Company ordered...
Zika in the Workplace: Best Practices for Not Getting Bit with Liability
There are things we all need to know about Zika: 1) it is spread mostly by an infected Aedes species mosquito; 2) it can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus; 3) there is no vaccine or medicine for Zika; and 4) confirmed cases of the Zika...
Feds Figure Out How to Make Workplace Safety a Profit Center – But Not For The Employers
Just in case you missed our earlier post, effective August 1, the Department of Labor issued a new rule implementing significantly higher penalties upon employers for Occupational Safety and Health Act violations. After August 1, the new penalty rates will be effective for any violations which occurred after November...
That Bored Lifeguard May Not Be the Only Unproductive Worker Watching the Olympics
By now you may have seen all the coverage of the rather bored-looking lifeguards at the Olympic swimming events . As it turns out, they may not be the only workers who are sitting around watching the Olympics on the clock.In a recent Workforce Institute survey commissioned from Harris...
Is Your Company Complying with Updated Federal Posting Requirements?
On August 1, 2016, the DOL issued updated posting requirements for the Employee Polygraph Protection Act and the Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act. If you haven't updated your posters, you should do so immediately. You can print out copies here: - Employee Rights Under the Fair...
FLSA Construction Basics: Build a Solid Foundation with Proper Classification
New England Company & Affiliate Pay $2.6 Million in Back Wages Over the past few years we have discussed the importance of proper classification of workers and the ever-increasing number of DOL audits and wage and hour lawsuits that are stemming from improper classification of the workforce. Yesterday, the...
New Massachusetts Equal Pay Law is not Effective Until January 1, 2018, But Employers Should Pay Attention Now
On August 1, 2016, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law sweeping changes to the state's prohibition on discrimination in pay on the basis of an employee's gender. The law is one of the most aggressive equal pay laws passed in the United States and contains unique provisions to...
Policy to “Conduct only . . . business while at work” Found to Violate NLRA
The Casino Pauma expects employees to work while at work—a concept that is not foreign to many of us. In fact, they put the expectation into writing and placed in their employee handbook a clause which provided: "Team members are to conduct only Casino Pauma business while at work...
Obesity and the ADA: Does 33% of the U.S. Population Have ADA Protection as a Result of Obesity?
Yesterday, the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion in Morriss v. BNSF Railway Co. , No. 14-3858 (April 5, 2016), rejecting the plaintiff's argument that obesity (in and of itself) is sufficient to maintain an ADA claim. The Eighth Circuit joins the Sixth Circuit and the Second Circuit in coming...
Co-Workers with Zenefits
Apparently it is going to be a lot less fun to work at Zenefits, a health insurance brokerage start-up, than it used to be. A month ago, David Sacks, the aptly named CEO of Zenefits, banned alcohol in the workplace. Apparently, occasionally co-workers would gather in the office to...
Casino Owner's "Seaman Exemption" On the Rocks in Georgia
We love boat cases! We also love it when our colleagues makes clever arguments, even if those arguments are a bit of a stretch. The casino ship Emerald Princess II hailed from the port of Brunswick, Georgia. On weekdays, she would take a boatload of adventure seekers on a...
Sports, Beer, and Work
We laugh about employee engagement and productivity on the day after the Super Bowl; we joke about productivity on Black Friday; welcome today to a similar situation—when March Madness begins and drinking is abound. Should we celebrate the combination of the two dates, with the ever-optimistic view that now...
Take Your Child to Work Day (or Year) and the White Sox
Father and Son and Baseball is like . . . well it's actually not like anything else, it is America. Have you seen #FamilyFirst and the publicity that has accompanied Adam LaRoche's decision to leave the White Sox? If not, you can catch up here . How, you're asking...
Forgot to Mention One Little Thing: Santa Baby and Complete Accounts of Employee Misdeeds
In the holiday song that I most often picture sung by the woman portrayed in Madonna's Material Girl , this year my mind shifted away from diamond rings and men with the "cold hard cash" to what occurs when we "forget" to add something to our list. While the...
‘Tis the Season…For Verrill Dana to Break Into Song
Last year we brought you a lively selection of labor and employment-related tips insofar as my true love gifted me presents (or failed to gift said presents) throughout the 12 days of Christmas (if you missed it you can start catching up here , and here , and here...
Prospero Ano y Felicidad: Feliz Navidad and an "English Only" Policy in the Workplace
As Jose Feliciano wishes us a Merry Christmas from the bottom of his heart, it is important that we as employers recognize that in order to maintain a diverse workforce we are going to be faced with some difficult questions—including whether an "English Only" policy is necessary or appropriate...
When It Is Not A Laughing Matter
While this blog does attempt to bring humor to employment law, we by no means make light of the difficult issues that corporations are faced with when interacting with employees. This blog post will not be filled with puns or YouTube videos, but instead will focus on the events...
Does Your Social Media Policy Need An Anti-Parasitic Drug?
My Facebook news feed blew up last week with reaction to Martin Shkreli's company, Turing's, 5,000% increase in the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill. While an interesting case study in ethics, politics, and how health care and pharmaceuticals are managed...
It's Not Just Hillary Clinton Who Has to Worry About Security Protocols
Last month, the FTC issued new "guidance" on data security for companies that collect, store, and use consumer data. This guidance "summarizes the lessons learned from more than 50 law enforcement actions the FTC has announced so far." The full text of the FTC's Start with Security: A Guide...
You Accommodate Your Employees, But Do They Accommodate Your Customers?
Late last month we posted on Indiana's "Religious Freedom" bill. Since then, the bill has been amended and states (including Maine ) with similar pending legislation have reconsidered the propriety of such legislation. Additionally, recently the New York Times published an article focusing on delays and disruptions that were/are...
UPCOMING SEMINAR/WEBINAR: The (F)riday (M)onday (L)eave (A)ct vs. Legitimate FMLA Leave
The serious health condition of an employee or his or her family member may entitle the employee to protected leave under either the state or federal Family and Medical Leave Act. But how do you manage this leave? Or, once you've figured out how to manage the leave, what...
Who Signed that Doctor's Note?
The 8th Circuit recently held that the FLSA's "continuing treatment" requirement means more than just walking into a clinic and leaving with a prescription. In Johnson v. Wheeling Mach, Prods. (8th Cir. No. 13-3786 Feb. 20, 2015) the employer terminated the Plaintiff after violations of the company attendance policy...
Fourth Circuit Affirm’s Exclusion of EEOC’s “Cherry-Picked” Data in Background Check Suit
Approximately 18 months ago we discussed the United States District Court for the District of Maryland's ruling that the EEOC had failed to show that an event-planning company's use of criminal background checks, as well as credit checks, resulted in a disparate impact against male and black applicants. On...
“Tie Up” Your Employee Policies to Guard Against “Grey” Areas of Liability
Last week Representative Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives H.R. 901, "The Eliminating Pornography From Agencies Act," an Act with the purpose of prohibiting the accessing of pornographic web sites from federal computers and for other purposes. While the Act was likely introduced in response...
