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Employment Law

PWFA enforcement halted in Texas

03/04/2024
A federal judge has ordered the federal government not to enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in Texas after the state government filed a lawsuit contesting how the law was passed.

Double-dip: Beware this new employee lawsuit tactic

03/04/2024
The EEOC complaint process gives employers a chance to investigate allegations and resolve the problem if possible. It also allows the opportunity to see what evidence the employee has and seek a settlement if the facts warrant it. But some aggressive plaintiffs’ attorneys have adopted a new litigation tactic—simultaneously filing both an EEOC complaint and a separate federal lawsuit alleging other related claims.

PUMP Act suit against McDonald’s shows cost of ignoring the law

03/01/2024
A group of new mothers have brought one of the first PUMP Act class-action lawsuits. The case illustrates the legal folly of cutting corners on PUMP Act compliance.

Judge: NLRB joint-employer rule won’t go into effect until March 11 at the earliest

03/01/2024
A federal judge has put the National Labor Relations Board’s new joint-employer rule on hold until at least March 11. Reason: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has sued to permanently strike down the rule. U.S. District Court Judge J. Campbell Barker of the Eastern District of Texas said he needed more time to consider the merits of the lawsuit.

Lessen liability by quickly addressing sexual harassment

02/23/2024
Just having a policy that prohibits sexual harassment can prevent harassment from occurring. Most employers also make it easy for employees to report harassment they experience or witness.

Washington Watch: NLRB, OSHA in the news

02/23/2024
A constitutionality argument against the NLRB and OSHA’s new walkaround rule.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act adds intermittent-leave challenges

02/23/2024
The PWFA lets pregnant employees take a new, albeit informal, form of intermittent leave—and it doesn’t always require a health-care provider’s certification. The PWFA requires pregnancy-related conditions to be reasonably accommodated. Many such conditions mean employees may miss work with little or no notice.

Old test or new, the FLSA still defaults to employee status

02/21/2024
The Fair Labor Standards Act is remedial legislation that is meant to cover as many employees as possible. The Department of Labor’s final worker status regulations were never intended to change this. The main reason for issuing the regs was to codify the Supreme Court’s 80-year-old test. A recent case decided before the final regs were issued illustrates.

White-collar Wednesdays: Initial preparations for the DOL’s final salary-level regs

02/21/2024
We are now a little over two months away from the release of final regulations raising the weekly and annual salary amounts employees must earn to remain exempt from the FLSA, as promised by the Department of Labor. Regardless of how this shakes out, it’s best to be prepared.

FTC could begin investigating worker misclassification

02/20/2024
The Department of Labor isn’t the only federal agency interested in curbing worker misclassification. Now a member of the Federal Trade Commission has suggested it should start looking at whether companies that incorrectly classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees enjoy an unfair competitive advantage.