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Employment Law

DOL issues new FMLA forms, hints at changes

07/30/2020
The U.S. Department of Labor has just updated its set of official FMLA notification and certification forms—and asked for more employer input, a request that suggests more form changes may soon be on the way.

Now more than ever, keep dress code neutral

07/30/2020
With a potentially polarizing election looming, workplace conflict over politics seems almost inevitable. Employers should avoid fueling those battles. One flashpoint to beware: Dress codes that prescribe what employees must or must not wear at work, especially concerning political expression.

Religion must be accommodated, not trivialized

07/28/2020
Remind all supervisors that unless a religious need unduly burdens business operations, they must accommodate employee beliefs.

Choosing applicants based on ‘it factor’: Is that job bias?

07/23/2020
Here’s a $215,000 reminder that it’s always better to use objective, quantifiable measures in hiring, rather than relying on subjective factors.

If family member is ‘high risk,’ must you accommodate?

07/16/2020
An employee [does not want to come into work/wants to work from home/wants a leave of absence] because he or she lives with someone who is at high risk for coronavirus complications. What do we do?

Employee tests positive? How to notify staff

07/16/2020
Millions of Americans have tested positive for the coronavirus, so odds are that one or more of your employees will test positive in the coming months. But there is a smart (and legal) way to communicate this news to your employees.

The high cost of honoring customer bias: $568,500

07/09/2020
Discriminating because of a customer’s request is just as illegal as discrimination an employer dreamed up by itself. This is especially true for employment agencies that place workers in temporary assignments or recommend them for permanent placement.

Prepare for ADA suits driven by health fears

07/09/2020
Simultaneous health and financial crises have given us all plenty to fear. Surely you are doing your best to prove to employees that your workplace is safe. Most will be assured. However, a small subset of workers may remain paralyzed by safety concerns.

Supreme Court rules for religious employers

07/09/2020
Two of the U.S. Supreme Court’s final decisions of the 2019-2020 term backed employers’ ability to invoke religion to exempt themselves from laws affecting employees and the workplace.

Spring regulatory agenda addresses contractor, wellness issues

07/07/2020
The Trump administration’s Spring 2020 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions—released late, on June 30—spells out what it hopes to accomplish between now and the end of the year.