Employment Law Letter

Since the 1940s, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) position has been that mandatory meetings with employees where the employer expresses its views on unions—typically referred to as “captive-audience” meetings...

Q We’re worried there may be an increase in worksite enforcement investigations. What can we do to prepare? There was a surge in worksite enforcement investigations in fiscal year 2018 by U.S. Immigration and Customs...

On January 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)published a new final rule revising its guidance on independent contractor classifications under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Effective March 11, 2024, the...

On November 15, 2024, a federal judge in Texas struck down a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) final rule that would have increased the salary threshold, in multiple phases, for exemptions from overtime pay under the...

As many employers discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most complex components of leave can be whether an employee’s health insurance is continued throughout the leave or whether, according to the health...

Q How can we discipline a new employee who takes unplanned, unexcused days off for sickness, family emergencies, etc.? We don’t currently have a policy on how many unexcused days off are allowed. Wisconsin employers have...

Q We have an employee who took four days off to tend to his daughter in the hospital after she received a C-section and another who wants to take three weeks off to assist her sibling going through chemotherapy. Would...

Small dollar cases are a problem because the cost of attorneys’ fees can often dwarf the remaining areas of liability. In addition, pain and suffering damages are a wildcard that makes a case evaluation difficult. But...

A mediocre sheriff with a history of performance warnings wasn’t promoted and tried to get that reversed by a California trial court. When that didn’t work, he went to the court of appeal and asked for his case to be...

Because arbitrations are creatures of contract, ordinarily a nonsignatory to an arbitration agreement cannot invoke its terms. But an exception exists when that rule proves just too unfair. Courts can’t countenance...

On November 11, 2024, a top-secret operation by Santa’s Detective Division discovered the Grinch in a makeshift lair, using a voice-to-text application to draft the following memorandum to himself. The division is...

Race discrimination and retaliation claims under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 have no cap on the damages that can be awarded. In a recent case from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings...

With the presidential election just behind us, it’s no surprise that political tensions are high and citizen campaigning continues to permeate the workplace. With a record number of employees donning “Make America Great...

In April 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision with the potential to significantly alter the scope of employment discrimination claims. The case, Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, addressed what employer actions...

Great interview! This is the job for you! Now what? Be strategic and thoughtful, as Art Markman suggests in his insightful article “4 Ways to Follow Up After a Job Interview,” published on November 5, 2020, in the...