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Employment Law

Understand marijuana laws in every jurisdiction where you operate

04/25/2025
Employers can require employees accused of violence at work to take a drug test. But what happens if the test reveals the presence of marijuana in the system of an employee whose use of medical marijuana is authorized by state law?

Discipline consistently to avoid reverse-discrimination lawsuits

04/25/2025
There’s a simple way to avoid many kinds of reverse-discrimination lawsuits: Treat everyone alike. That means making sure supervisors apply work rules impartially and without exception unless there is an objective reason discipline should differ.

Federal contractors no longer have to promise their restrooms aren’t segregated

04/21/2025
A letter from the U.S. General Services Administration’s Office of Government-wide Acquisition Policy notes that White House Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, rescinded a 1965 executive order that required contractors to end the practice of maintaining separate restrooms for white and minority employees.

4 Big Law firms settle with EEOC to end scrutiny of DEI programs

04/21/2025
Four of the world’s largest law firms have entered into settlement agreements with the EEOC promising that their diversity, equity and inclusion practices do not result in unlawful discrimination or preferences based on race, sex or other protected characteristics. In return for settling, the EEOC agreed not to investigate the firms for allegedly discriminatory practices.

Court: Simply offering DEI program doesn’t establish hostile environment

04/18/2025
The mere existence of a DEI program doesn’t establish a hostile environment if an employee wasn’t singled out or personally affected.

Throw a bucket of ice water on summer payroll problems

04/16/2025
Regardless of whether employees work in the office or remotely, the one thing they’re all thinking about now is vacations and long weekends. As you gear up for employees’ summer vacation requests, remember the Fair Labor Standards Act has a lot to say about working hours and calculating overtime when employees take a day off during the week.

Appeals court OKs Wilcox return to NLRB, Supreme Court says not so fast

04/14/2025
Another day, another court, another status change for once-again former National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox.

Your choice on diabetes accommodations: Pay little or nothing now or $150K later

04/14/2025
Most disability accommodations don’t cost much at all to provide. Penalties for violating the ADA by not accommodating an employee’s health needs can be expensive indeed.

Understand how pregnancy accommodations differ from other accommodations

04/14/2025
Accommodations under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act can look very familiar at first glance. Like disability accommodations under the ADA and religious accommodations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, pregnancy accommodations under the PWFA require having an interactive conversation with the employee designed to identify what changes the employer can make to accommodate the employee’s needs. But the similarities between the laws end there.

Electronic signatures: What employers need to know

04/09/2025
For centuries, a signature at the bottom of a piece of paper has meant someone agrees with what the document says. Can keystrokes carry the same legal weight as pen strokes? Yes. Two federal laws establish the legality of e-signatures in this country: the UETA and E-SIGN.