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Employment Law

Document termination decision before telling worker

02/28/2025
Always document disciplinary decisions the moment you make them—and before you tell the employee. That way, you can successfully argue that you could not have retaliated against the employee because the decision was made before you knew about their request.

As Ramadan approaches, consider religious accommodation obligations

02/26/2025
Two upcoming religious holidays make it an opportune time for employers to review the laws regarding religious accommodations.

ADA & your workplace: How to document an unreasonable accommodation

02/24/2025
Under the ADA, employers don’t have to go along with an accommodation that is unreasonable—one that, in the terminology of the ADA, “causes an undue hardship.” If you reject what you consider an unreasonable accommodation, be ready to explain why.

EEOC seeks to drop 6 gender-identity lawsuits

02/24/2025
The EEOC has asked federal courts to drop lawsuits it previously filed alleging that employees experienced workplace discrimination and harassment because they are transgender.

Disabled remote worker? Think twice before demanding return to office

02/24/2025
Recently, many employers (and the federal government) have ordered most employees to return to their offices. Be careful about ordering disabled employees to do so. The EEOC just sued an employer that insisted on requiring everyone to come back to the office, despite some having disabilities.

Beware potential huge cost of small wage-and-hour mistakes

02/21/2025
When employers don’t understand wage-and-hour laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act—or worse, when they try to circumvent that law—they can find themselves on the hook for potentially costly penalties. Even relatively small violations can quickly add up.

Heed DOL opinion letter to coordinate federal FMLA with state and local requirements

02/20/2025
The letter acknowledges that under the FMLA, employees can elect to use accrued vacation, sick and workers’ comp leave for unpaid FMLA leave, and employers can require it. This substitution runs concurrent with FMLA leave until the entitlement is used up.

Bias on basis of gender identity remains illegal despite EEOC promise to reverse course

02/18/2025
In a statement, acting EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said the EEOC “is returning to its mission of protecting women from sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination in the workplace by rolling back the Biden administration’s gender identity agenda.” But issuing a press release does not change official policy.

Your own assets are at risk! You could be liable for FMLA mistakes

02/18/2025
A federal court has decided that employees like HR professionals and supervisors can sometimes be held personally liable for FMLA violations. That means their assets can be seized to pay damages.

Starbucks faces lawsuit claiming DEI is ‘pretext’ for discrimination

02/18/2025
The state of Missouri is suing Starbucks, alleging that the coffee chain’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs are a “mere pretext for its actual commitment to unlawful discrimination.”