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Employment Law

Case of the Week: Ten-hut! Follow Marine Corps’ new religious grooming rules

01/13/2023
Marines Corps basic training strives to tamp down individuality and nonconformity in favor of uniformity in dress and grooming. For decades, male recruits have had to cut their hair, shave their beards and don the Marine uniform. Now a lawsuit by Sikh recruits has forced the Marines to accept that dress and grooming standards can’t be so rigid that they discriminate on the basis of religion.

Ignore DOL investigators, leave work in handcuffs

01/13/2023
The owner of three northern New Jersey restaurants has learned that not cooperating with a federal investigation and ignoring federal court orders can earn you a trip to jail.

Plan now for the coming higher OT salary threshold

01/13/2023
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced plans to raise the salary threshold that qualifies white-collar employees for overtime pay. With a notice of proposed rulemaking due in May, HR pros should start preparing now for changes that will probably have to be implemented by the end of the year.

DOL to propose new OT threshold by May

01/11/2023
Millions more white-collar employees could become newly eligible for overtime pay later this year. The Department of Labor has confirmed plans to update the overtime salary threshold by May.

How to avoid state pay equity law traps

01/10/2023
While activists are pushing Congress to enact revisions to the Equal Pay Act, such as the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would make it easier for women and people of color to reach pay equity, some states and cities have taken the matter into their own hands.

Snapshot: Construction shines when it comes to DEI

01/10/2023
A recently commissioned report from the General Services Administration aimed at advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the architecture and construction fields shows the positive strides made by this sector and areas to improve.

GSA works to highlight and advance DEI efforts in construction industry

01/10/2023
Perhaps companies looking to focus on DEI initiatives should consider a recently commissioned report from the General Services Administration aimed at advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the architecture and construction fields. While DEIA training is becoming a norm in this sector, the report showed that more can be done in areas such as recruiting, empowering and advancing a diverse workforce.

FTC proposes ban on non-compete clauses

01/10/2023
The Federal Trade Commission proposed the Non-Compete Clause Rule on Jan. 5, which would prohibit employers from entering non-compete agreements with employees and would rescind existing agreements.

First union formation at Microsoft is a lesson in employer/employee relations

01/06/2023
ZeniMax Workers United/Communication Workers of America is the first studio at Microsoft to secure union representation, and it’s the largest group of union-represented quality assurance testers at any U.S. game studio. That in itself has been making headlines since the news broke on Jan. 3. But perhaps just as notable is how Microsoft handled the situation.

Worker in alleged “slave ship” wants to litigate race bias suit

01/04/2023
A Black assembly line staffer at Tesla, Marcus, seeks to add more than 100 other workers to an existing lawsuit, calling the electric-car maker’s production floor in Fremont, Calif., a “hotbed for racist behavior.”