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Employment Law

How to manage pregnancy-related accommodations

01/18/2023
With the recent passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, all pregnant women are now entitled to reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related complications. A recent case decided before the PWFA became law offers tips on how to handle pregnancy-related accommodation requests.

Court dismisses EPA case as push for pay equity intensifies

01/18/2023
To win an EPA case, the worker must show that the opposite sex was paid more for “equal work requiring substantially similar skill, effort and responsibilities performed under similar working conditions.” That’s increasingly difficult in a work environment where numerous new jobs rely on extremely specialized skills, making it almost impossible to prove jobs are substantially similar enough to allow a comparison.

How to avoid being set up for an FMLA lawsuit

01/18/2023
It’s fairly common for workers facing discipline to request FMLA leave, believing that means their employer can’t fire them. It’s a way of setting up a potential FMLA retaliation lawsuit. A recent case shows exactly how employers can avoid being set up.

DOL provides FMLA guidance for workers living with cancer

01/18/2023
The Department of Labor created some new resources to help workers living with cancer understand their rights under the FMLA.

Pay for travel time to voluntary OT shift?

01/17/2023
If an hourly employee has to travel from one location to another to continue their principal activities during the workday, then that’s paid time. Commuting time, however, is unpaid. But what if an employee completes a full shift at one location and voluntarily takes on an overtime shift at a different location?

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.