It’s almost winter, and when the cold winds blow, blizzards, ice storms, and dangerous temperatures often disrupt business. Certainly, bad weather can hit at any time of year, so employers always need to understand their...
Employment Law Letter
Recently, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor (DOL), and Treasury proposed new regulations aimed at promoting access to contraception. Separately, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and DOL recently...
Not so long ago, employers enthusiastically touted their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. But then the backlash set in. A growing number of employers–bowing to pressure from people opposed to what they...
As the dust settles from the 2024 U.S. presidential election, businesses with a significant international workforce are bracing for potential shifts in immigration policy. Former President Donald J. Trump’s return to...
The Massachusetts Earned Sick Leave Act was recently amended. Effective November 21, 2024, employers must allow employees to take protected time off under the Act to address their own or their spouse’s physical or mental...
Even if an individual employee complies with the dress code, can she be asked to change clothes because she is too distractingly curvaceous? Can she be terminated for inappropriate social media activity, when similarly...
Employment arbitration agreements may have the practical benefit of precluding collective, class, or representative wage and hour claims from proceeding in state or federal court in favor of only an individual claim in...
Termination of a publicly appointed official—such as a clerk, administrator, fire chief, or similar position—requires careful planning because of the many legal implications in play. This article provides an overview of...
Over the past year, numerous employers and their 401(k) plan fiduciaries have faced lawsuits regarding how forfeited employer contributions to their 401(k) plan are used. This wave of lawsuits began approximately a year...
We all know Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on race, sex, or religion, among other protected categories. Balancing employees’ rights in the...
On September 23, 2024, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released revised Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs guidance, last updated in March 2023. The latest guidance covers three...
Q We have an employee who is undergoing fertility treatments out of town and misses days sporadically. Do these absences fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)? Whether fertility/infertility treatments are...
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is now part and parcel of your life. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) isn’t shy about reminding you of this fact. EEOC lawsuit on stillbirth Wilda Jean Louis...
In a significant win for the Biden administration, on September 11, 2024, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all employers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) affirmed the U.S. Department of...
Q Do employees have to be employed for 12 months or work 1,250 hours to qualify for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), or do they qualify as soon as they begin employment? Unlike the Family and Medical Leave Act...