Legal
How to Minimize Your Risk in an Offer Letter
You have found the best candidate for the job you’re filling, and your offer is accepted, but sometimes unpredictable things happen. For example: What if you need to rescind an offer of employment? What if a candidate starts before their background check is complete and they don’t meet the requirements of the job when the…
Read MoreHow to Navigate a Reduction in Force
Over the course of your business life, there may come a time when you are faced with the difficult but necessary decision to lay off some employees as part of a reduction in force or other restructuring initiative at one or more of your locations. There are a wide array of laws that may impact…
Read MoreThe EEOC Proposes Detailed New Enforcement Priorities For 2023-2027
On Tuesday, January 10, the EEOC released for public comment its draft 2023-2027 Strategic Enforcement Plan, or “SEP” (available here)—a document that will guide the Commission’s enforcement priorities for the next five years. The EEOC’s previously announced Strategic Plan described “how” it would pursue its enforcement goals. The Strategic Enforcement Plan, on the other hand,…
Read MoreContractor Agreements Subject to Federal/State Law Prohibitions on Confidentiality and Nondisparagement
In yet another example of laws blurring the distinction between employees and independent contractors, organizations need to beware that the prohibitions on confidentiality and nondisparagement agreements embodied in the federal Speak Out Act and various state laws often are equally applicable to independent contractor agreements. The motive behind these prohibitions is driven by the egregiousness…
Read MoreEmployers, Don’t Forget About the Flu!
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers did not have flu-specific policies and procedures (healthcare employers being one significant exception). However, seasonal flu can be a serious and dangerous illness, and employers should not treat it lightly. Many of the lessons we collectively learned from COVID-19 are equally applicable to the flu. And employers should…
Read MoreRetaliation Mistake Leads to a Costly Payout
Race discrimination is bad enough, but an Oklahoma-based company recently learned the hard way that adding a retaliation mistake on top of that can lead to hefty settlements. American Piping Inspection, Inc. has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a race-based discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC on behalf of a Black employee…
Read MoreCongress Expands Protections for Pregnant Employees and Employees Who Are Nursing
On December 22, 2022, the 117th Congress passed with bipartisan support an omnibus spending bill, which includes two measures that expand rights for pregnant and nursing workers: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act). President Biden is expected to sign the bill before the…
Read MoreEmployers Beware: Pendulum Continues to Swing in Favor of Unions
Since President Biden took office and subsequently appointed union attorney Jennifer Abruzzo to the General Counsel role, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board” or “NLRB”) has issued pro-union decision after pro-union decision, several of which reversed Trump-era precedent. The trend continued this past week as the Board issued a series of consequential decisions. Two…
Read MoreAppellate Court Addresses How Much Information Employee Must Submit to Support an Accommodation Request
One of the many difficult issues employers face under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is determining what information a disabled employee must provide to an employer to trigger the employer’s duty to accommodate a disability. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit addressed that question for the first time in Owens v.…
Read MoreFired for Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine: Do They Get Unemployment?
An employee who is fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine – without showing entitlement to a legitimate religious or disability-related exemption – is likely to have a hard time collecting unemployment compensation benefits, two recent court rulings show. Though each state sets its own specific eligibility guidelines, these two rulings from Minnesota hinge…
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