No, this is not an article about the flurry of lawsuits filed over the 2020 presidential election returns. Rather, it deals with a December 7 decision from the federal appeals court covering Texas, which laid down the...
Employment Law Letter
The Texas Supreme Court recently heard oral argument on an issue that’s bedeviling employers in the state, namely whether the Texas Labor Code’s disability discrimination protection requires additional leave when a...
Baylor University in Waco is embroiled in litigation involving allegations of sexual assault by members of its football team. Lawyers for a complaining student sought to take the university president’s testimony under...
On September 22, 2020, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 13950, which banned “divisive” and “un-American” antiracism training to federal contractors. Even though the order is for federal contractors...
Two union-backed bills designed to protect hospitality workers in Baltimore took effect on December 7, 2020, after the city council voted to override outgoing Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young’s vetoes. What new laws require...
From when they will be widely available in the United States to where you may fall in the priority line, COVID-19 vaccines are dominating the news cycle right now. Unsurprisingly, a common question from employers has...
Be ready for major changes to national labor policy when President- elect Joe Biden enters the Oval Office. The changes will likely aim to increase union membership by (1) facilitating organizing, (2) shortening election...
The first time I heard the term "sex addiction" was in 2010, when Tiger Woods told the public he would be stepping away from the PGA Tour to attend rehab. The announcement shook the sports world and sparked a...
The 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which became law in late December, extended a federal tax credit for employers that choose to continue providing leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)...
About a year ago, we wrote about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids of Mississippi poultry processors, resulting in hundreds of suspected undocumented workers being removed from the worksites (see Despite...
Q Are there restrictions on disclosing internally the reason for an employee's leave of absence if we use a high-level reason? The reasons we use in our HR software include "employee health condition," "baby bonding,"...
An employer should have bargained with a union over the effects of its decision to require employees to complete new I-9 forms, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge (ALJ) recently ruled. The...
On December 2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance on quarantining: In certain circumstances, individuals potentially exposed to COVID-19 by being in "close contact" with a person who...
Q Our company wants to implement a policy to limit personal cell phone usage only to break times. Can we ask workers to put their phones in their work lockers or on their supervisors desks? Yes, you may either require or...
The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently issued two opinion letters addressing when travel time and training time are considered compensable hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards...