An employee handbook is an important tool for communicating an employer’s policies, procedures, and expectations. They are particularly good for assisting HR staff with onboarding new employees. Creating a well-drafted...
Employment Law Letter
It was only a year ago that work-from-home became the norm in most of our households. Overnight, employers and employees were forced to adjust the way they live and work, while following COVID-19 guidelines. Just when it...
An ongoing lawsuit between West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and several unions over a change to a state wage law that would bar most public agencies from withholding union dues from employee paychecks has generated a...
The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), which authorizes emergency use authorization (EUA) for vaccines, doesn’t prohibit entities, including employers, from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations even if the shots are...
"Are you human? Are you a good human?" Those are the questions you should really be asking job candidates. The days of gender roles and glass ceilings should be behind us. Words matter So, why do many employee handbooks...
Frontline workers have been back on the job since Spring 2020, providing essential and critical services. But many of their white-collar coworkers and managers have been toiling from home for almost 18 months, along with...
Vaccinations are available, and states have been reopening, but the number of women in the workforce has fallen to historic lows because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As employees begin returning to the office, employers...
Oklahoma child support is regulated by state statutes and enforced by courts and agencies, and it often affects employers’ insurance and benefit programs and payrolls. To learn more, read on. How your benefit plans are...
Incredibly, COVID-19 has now affected a third school year. Working parents were previously able to rely on the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to take leave in the event of school closures and/or...
An Ohio state appellate court recently held a home health aide who fell and was injured while leaving her client’s home—although she had left her usual path of exiting the premises and walked toward the side of the house...
All of our upper Midwest states ranked at the top of a recent WalletHub study listing “2021's Hardest-Working States in America.” Top-20 finishers included North Dakota (ranked no. 2), Nebraska (3), South Dakota (4)...
A North Carolina court recently held an employer wasn’t liable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal antidiscrimination law, for failing to investigate an employee’s discrimination complaint. The...
On September 9, 2021, President Joseph Biden issued an Executive Order mandating COVID-19 vaccines for all federal workers and won’t allow a testing-out option for those who refuse. They will have 75 days to get the...
The COVID-19 pandemic foisted paid leave into the public conversation. Federal programs such as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) mandated periods of paid leave (short and long) for qualifying employees...
HR pros wear many hats. Since March 2020, they have been at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to their many other tasks, they have needed to coordinate furloughs and layoffs, stay up to date with the...