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Check contract to see if you owe exempt union members holiday pay

Q We are a public employer and have several exempt union employees who came in to shovel snow on a holiday they were supposed to have off. Our union members normally get overtime pay if they work on a holiday, but these...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Make sure your background checks follow state, federal restrictions

Q How far back are we allowed to verify information (both criminal and previous employer references) when conducting a background check? A Massachusetts has no limit in regard to checking references from previous...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

How to protect your TWC tax rate from chargebacks

Despite the current labor shortage, some employers may be suffering the lingering effects of increased unemployment claims from prior years. Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) unemployment chargebacks can affect an...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Texas

Public employer alert: new way to sue police officers?

A number of subscribers are public employers whose employees as well as themselves can be sued for all sorts of reasons not applicable to private-sector companies. Here’s one potential lawsuit claim: If a police officer...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Texas

New law blocks arbitration of sexual assault, harassment claims

Arbitration agreements have long been a standard practice across all industries. With the signing of H.R. 4445 into law by President Joe Biden, however, arbitration agreements are no longer enforceable against sexual...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Texas

College shoots ‘airball’ in basketball coach’s FMLA lawsuit

An “airball,” or a basketball shot that misses the backboard, rim, and net entirely, sums up our appeals court’s recent opinion about the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) retaliation and interference claims filed by a...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Texas

FMLA leave total based on number of hours worked in 12 weeks

Q An employee whose work hours are based on nine-hour days (45 hours per week) is on parental leave. Would her Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave end when she reaches 480 hours or 12 weeks (which would be 540...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

4th Circuit provides lesson on drafting employment agreements

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia) recently issued a published decision on an employer’s second appeal of a judgment in favor of its...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

3rd Circuit to determine if student athletes are ‘employees’ under FLSA

Since last year’s monumental Supreme Court decision in Alston curtailing the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) ability to limit student athlete compensation, the landscape continues to shift in...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Restaurant’s mandatory service charge wasn’t a tip

In the current battle to hire and retain good workers, employers have developed creative ways to balance employees’ increased compensation expectations against the costs of running a business. In addition, restaurants...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

After FMLA case lost, conflicting statements sink employee's jobless benefits claim

What happens when an employee doesn’t return from Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and later requests unemployment benefits? The Arkansas Court of Appeals recently addressed the issue. Facts Rachel Hourston...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Urbana bar dodges bullet as court orders another round in arbitration

Mandatory arbitration of employment disputes has been under fire. In Illinois, predispute mandatory arbitration agreements covering discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims have been banned since 2020. At the...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

UIC law professor gives university an ‘F’ for its EEO investigation

Typically, it’s the students, not the professors, who complain they’ve been graded or treated unfairly. Read on to learn about an instructor who alleges an exam question he drafted led to unfair and illegal treatment by...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

What employers should know about CA bid to regulate automated decision making

California is among the first states to propose regulating employers’ use of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI). In a recent virtual public meeting, the California Fair Employment and Housing Council discussed...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Employers can face liability for employee-to-employee or third-party racial harassment

Although employers may be automatically liable for supervisors or administrative personnel harassing subordinate employees under certain federal laws, they may also be held liable if another employee (even one...

May 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington