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Employment Law

New Calif. law could signal HR privacy trend

08/04/2022
Protecting employee privacy has always been a priority for HR professionals, but a just-enacted California law has upped the ante on safeguarding employees’ personal data. The California Privacy Rights Act may become a model for legislation in other states.

D.C. Circuit to NLRB: Take a fresh look at joint-employer ruling

08/02/2022
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the National Labor Relations Board to revisit its most recent, Trump-era ruling in Browning-Ferris Industries, a landmark decision that defined what it means to be a joint employer under the National Labor Relations Act.

Always keep disability status confidential

07/28/2022
The ADA requires employers to keep a worker’s disability confidential. That can put supervisors in a difficult position if, for example, employees complain about a colleague who seemingly gets a pass on performing some tasks or is allowed to take extra leave.

Don’t fly solo on settlements! Call your lawyer

07/28/2022
It may be tempting to offer a disgruntled employee a quick cash settlement in exchange for her signature on a liability release. But beware: If the release isn’t properly executed, the employee might be able to sue anyway.

Service animals may be ADA accommodations

07/28/2022
Some employers assume they can reject out of hand a disabled employee’s request to bring a service animal to work as a reasonable accommodation. Implementing such a blanket policy is a mistake.

Report: Reform intermittent leave to help employers comply with FMLA

07/26/2022
A new report by the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank argues that updating the FMLA’s intermittent leave provisions could “significantly improve employers’ experience complying with the law.”

Accommodate teenage workers’ disabilities, too

07/21/2022
One of the EEOC’s primary enforcement priorities is protecting teen workers from harassment and discrimination. Employers that tolerate abuse of younger employees can expect an EEOC lawsuit that is likely to result in an expensive judgment or settlement.

Investigate all harassment complaints ASAP

07/21/2022
Act fast as soon as you learn an employee has complained about harassment. If you don’t, you may lose the only defense your organization has.

Abortion discrimination is still illegal pregnancy bias

07/19/2022
As controversial and divisive of an issue as abortion is (perhaps now more than ever), the law is clear that an employer cannot fire an employee for having one. Nothing the Supreme Court did in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization changes this.

Biden’s White House will be first to pay its interns

07/19/2022
To determine if interns should be paid, the Department of Labor and the courts have used a primary-beneficiary test, which looks at who benefits most—the employer or the intern.