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Employment Law

Final overtime rule: OT salary threshold to hit $58,656 on Jan. 1, with interim hike to $43,888 on July 1

04/23/2024
Exempt employees earning less than $58,656 per year on Jan. 1, 2025, will be entitled to overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek under a long-awaited final rule issued April 23 by the Department of Labor.

Senate, House vote to overturn NLRB joint-employer rule, Biden expected to veto

04/22/2024
The Senate voted 50–48 on April 10 to repeal the rule using provisions of the Congressional Review Act.

Beware co-worker harassment of transgender employees

04/22/2024
Late last year, the EEOC issued proposed guidance on gender-identity discrimination and harassment, with final guidance due soon. Based on the proposed guidance, we know the EEOC views slights against transgender employees to be a form of sex-based harassment. Now it has filed a lawsuit that claims harassment because co-workers continue to use a transgender employee’s birth name instead of the one she now chooses to call herself.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act final regulations go into effect June 18

04/19/2024
The EEOC has issued the long-awaited final regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The regs are scheduled to be published today in the Federal Register, and will become effective in 60 days, on June 18, 2024.

Supreme Court: ‘Significant’ harm not required to support Title VII lawsuits contesting transfers

04/18/2024
It just became easier for employees to file and win lawsuits alleging that an unwanted job transfer was motivated by discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, even if the transfer did not result in a demotion or loss of pay.

Union election petitions rising dramatically, unfair labor practices charges also up

04/15/2024
Union election petitions rose 35% in the first six months of fiscal year 2024 compared to the same period a year ago, while unfair labor practices charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board increased 7%.

Discipline consistently, equitably to avoid discrimination liability

04/15/2024
Every employee who breaks the same rule should receive the same level of discipline. Absent some solid, fact-based reason, treating some employees more leniently than others is practically begging to be sued for discrimination. That’s especially true if a manager treats members of a particular protected class more harshly or more favorably than employees who belong to different protected classes.

Women still being asked inappropriate interview questions

04/10/2024
Every manager knows some job interview questions are off-limits because they can lead to discriminatory hiring decisions, right? Wrong, according to a new survey.

Think twice before demanding workers’ social-media passwords

04/10/2024
To get around social-media roadblocks, some employers require employees to either open their accounts or turn over their social-media usernames and passwords. This obviously raises privacy concerns and has caught the attention of state legislators in several jurisdictions.

Regulate your use of noncompete agreements before the government does it for you

04/10/2024
Legally speaking, to be enforceable, a post-employment restrictive covenant must be narrowly tailored by time, geography and a reasonable business interest worthy of protection. Yet, like a recent example, all too often employers require too many employees to sign overly broad and overly restrictive agreements. It’s bullying and a scare tactic.