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Employment Law

Recruit broadly to ensure diverse applicant pool

01/14/2021
Employees and job applicants can win age discrimination lawsuits if they prove an employer’s personnel practices have a negative disparate impact on older persons.

Act ASAP to prevent customer from harassing

01/14/2021
Title VII doesn’t just outlaw co-worker and supervisor harassment, it also holds employers responsible for preventing and stopping harassment from outside the organization. As much as you don’t want to alienate customers, you must intercede if they harass your employees.

Full speed ahead for Biden’s pro-worker plans

01/14/2021
Expect a sharp contrast with the employer-friendly policies of the Trump administration. Here is what we know so far about how the Biden administration will address hot-button employment law issues.

DOL opinion letter tackles travel time in the telework era

01/12/2021
Employees who work from home for part of the day and take time off to attend to personal affairs don’t have to be paid for the time spent traveling to and from their errands, according to new Department of Labor guidance. Opinion letter FLSA2020-19 addresses two different scenarios on travel time and telework.

Walsh nominated to head Biden’s Labor Department

01/12/2021
President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to become secretary of labor. A labor union official before he entered politics, Walsh is expected to lead a Department of Labor focused heavily on employee rights, a dramatic shift from the DOL’s pro-employer tilt during the Trump administration.

EEOC begins issuing formal opinion letters

01/12/2021
The EEOC has quietly begun taking a page out of the Department of Labor’s playbook, issuing formal opinion letters on matters related to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

National origin bias need not target specific country

01/07/2021
Discriminating on the basis of an employee’s national origin violates Title VII. But as one recent case shows, national origin discrimination doesn’t have to involve a particular nation.

Forced leave isn’t pregnancy accommodation

01/07/2021
Some pregnant women develop complications that require temporary restrictions. Be careful about how you handle those restrictions! Beware requiring a pregnant employee to take FMLA leave. And think twice about denying light-duty work as a reasonable accommodation.

New independent contractor rule soon to be moot

01/07/2021
On Jan. 6, the Department of Labor issued its long-awaited final rule revising the test to determine who can be classified as an independent contractor. The rule, as written, is unlikely to go into effect as scheduled on March 8.

Telemedicine OK to certify need to grant FMLA leave

01/07/2021
The Department of Labor now considers a telemedicine consultation with a health care provider sufficient to determine someone has a serious health condition that warrants FMLA leave.