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Employment Law

Religious liberty bill clears Senate, raises LGBT fears

05/06/2019
A so-called religious liberty bill that would give licensed professionals cover to discriminate against gay patrons if they are acting on their “sincerely held religious beliefs” is one step closer to becoming law.

Accommodate bathroom breaks related to disability

05/06/2019
Some medical conditions that may be ADA disabilities require disabled workers to visit the bathroom more frequently and for longer than other workers. Warn supervisors to accommodate those problems after engaging in the interactive accommodation process.

Belated claim of ethnicity dooms discrimination case

05/06/2019
A police officer who claimed he had been fired because of his supposed Hispanic heritage has lost his case because he didn’t mention the alleged harassment earlier.

Counter employee perception of unfairness by offering the facts of what really happened

05/06/2019
Some employees are suspicious that their co-workers might be getting workplace advantages that they’re missing out on. Fortunately, courts require feelings to be backed up by cold, hard facts showing discrimination.

Protect against future lawsuits by documenting details of every complaint

05/06/2019
Employees who complain about alleged discriminatory practices to their supervisors, HR or anyone else inside the organization in a position of authority are protected from retaliation for doing so. But they have to later show that they actually did at least mention discrimination.

Feel free to call out poor performance: Criticizing workplace mistakes isn’t harassment

05/06/2019
Employees can’t successfully claim that being pushed to do a better job—or even being shamed and ridiculed about their work habits—is anything but an unpleasant consequence of doing a lousy job.

DOL says gig economy workers are independent contractors

05/02/2019
A new Department of Labor opinion letter delivers a big win for business, stating that workers who provide services to customers of a gig economy company are independent contractors, not employees.

What is the latest information on running FMLA leave concurrently with other leave?

04/30/2019
Q. We don’t have a policy on using FMLA leave concurrently with other leave. Therefore, sometimes employees will ask to use up their paid leave first and then use unpaid FMLA leave. This seems to occur most often with maternity leave, as some new mothers like to have extra time off. Of course, we know about the need for FMLA leave since we know the employee is pregnant. We’ve heard that the DOL now requires us to run leave concurrently. Is this true?

New state lactation accommodation requirements may be coming to California

04/30/2019
California Senate Bill 142 would amend building codes to require new commercial buildings and those undergoing improvements costing over $1 million to include designated lactation spaces for employees.

Failure to pay overtime costs LA company $301,000

04/30/2019
Golden Life Supported Living Agency, a Los Angeles provider of services to clients with developmental disabilities, will pay $301,763 to 67 workers.