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New York

You have until December to comply with new overtime regulations

06/09/2016
Following two years of development and debate, the U.S. Department of Labor in May released a sweeping overhaul of the regulations for paying overtime to exempt, white-collar employees.

OSHA releases sweeping illness/injury reporting rule changes

06/09/2016
Most employers have little interaction with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency tasked with overseeing workplace safety. Unless they were one of about 36,000 employers OSHA inspected last year, most businesses, particularly smaller businesses, may have gone for many years without dealing with the agency. That is about to change.

Lowe’s settles disability bias claim with EEOC for $8.6M

06/09/2016
National home-improvement chain Lowe’s has settled charges it violated the ADA when it terminated employees after they exhausted the amount of leave the company permitted.

Target warehouse workers allege overtime law violations

06/09/2016
Retail giant Target could face a class-action lawsuit in federal court in New York.

DOL to appoint fiduciary for abandoned Bronx 401(k)

06/09/2016
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Admin­istration has asked a federal court to appoint a fiduciary for the 401(k) plan at Astro Communications, a Bronx telecommunications firm.

Document all discipline, just in case of lawsuit

06/09/2016
Carefully document each and every disciplinary action at the time it occurs, complete with details on who said what and when it happened.

Petty slights aren’t grounds for a lawsuit

06/09/2016
Some workers are thin-skinned and seem to think that little annoyances can add up to a discrimination or retaliation lawsuit. Fortunately, that’s not true.

Transfer won’t be considered adverse if duties don’t substantially change

06/09/2016
Want to transfer an employee to give her a fresh start after settling an informal complaint? As long as her job remains essentially the same and the position isn’t radically different, such a move probably won’t be viewed as retaliation or another instance of discrimination.

Keep track of disciplinary timing in case employee alleges continuing violations

06/09/2016
Employees who allege they have been retaliated against for engaging in some form of protected activity don’t have long to sue. If an employee works for a government agency and alleges that his First Amendment right to free speech has been violated, the lawsuit must begin within three years.

Discipline with care after FMLA leave: Build solid, performance-based case

06/09/2016
Employees can’t be held responsible for work not performed while they are out on FMLA medical leave. But that doesn’t mean employers are powerless to discipline an employee for poor performance that’s not related to the medical leave.