The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires most employers to keep an OSHA 300 log and complete an OSHA Form 301 when an employee suffers a “work-related” recordable illness or injury. You must then...
Employment Law Letter
Businesses have slowly been getting the green light to reopen in Massachusetts. While COVID-19 has presented a number of unprecedented challenges for employers in the state, calling furloughed or laid-off employees back...
Two recent decisions clarify when employees have been "constructively discharged" and can sue for wrongful "termination" even though the employer never fired them—they instead resigned or retired. Both the federal and...
Many of us have worked from home over the past few months, some with kids in tow. With the school year coming to an end, COVID-19 may thwart plans to send the kids off to summer camp or day camp. Parents who find...
Q If we’ve made a job offer but the prospective employee hasn’t accepted it yet, do we have to wait to conduct a background check? A The short answer is “probably not.” It’s actually quite common to conduct the...
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced it won’t require private-sector employers to submit EEO-1 data this year. But don’t throw away your 2019 data Ordinarily...
A federal district court in New Orleans found a jury must decide if a commercial diver was discriminated against after being terminated for chemotherapy and cancer treatments based on Association of Diving Contractors...
A federal court in Louisiana is sending sexual harassment and retaliation claims by a motel guest services representative to a jury. A big factor in the court’s decision was how her employer handled the complaint and the...
An employer's informal background check on a new hire via Google didn't support a race discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers North...
An airline flight attendant said her Muslim beliefs prevented her from serving alcohol, but she can't sue the company for requiring her to sell booze on its planes because her claim fell under a collective bargaining...
Restrictions put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic are beginning to ease in many parts of the country, and employers are starting to call back the millions of workers who joined the ranks of the unemployed a few...
As employers look to a postpandemic recovery, they're shifting their attention toward getting back to "normal." But normal isn't what it used to be, and you now have to focus on keeping employees healthy—and keeping your...
As Americans continue living in an unprecedented era of quarantining, many employees aren't quarantining at all. Workers in big-box retail shops, warehouses, grocery stores, and more are all still powering the economy as...
On June 9, 2020, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Texas) sent out a reminder to the lower courts about basic but important legal principles for analyzing discrimination claims. The insights are helpful...
Q Several employees forced to work from home during the pandemic say they prefer it to working in the office and actually feel more productive. Should we be preparing to extend and expand our telecommuting options even...