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Employment Law

Muted reaction to DOL’s overtime salary threshold proposed rule

03/12/2019
Reaction to the Department of Labor’s March 7 announcement of a 50% increase in the salary threshold has mostly focused on the practical details. Here’s what people are saying.

1st steps: Gauge impact of new OT threshold

03/12/2019
Start strategizing how to respond by identifying who on your staff would be affected by the new salary threshold rule.

DOL releases new proposed overtime rules

03/08/2019
After two years of speculation, false starts and hand-wringing, the U.S. Department of Labor has finally published its much-anticipated overhaul of the nation’s overtime rules.

Federal court revives EEO-1 pay reporting requirement

03/07/2019
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 4 vacated a Trump administration stay of an EEO-1 reporting requirement that was promulgated during the Obama administration but never implemented.

Ensure call-ins state reason for absence

03/07/2019
Unless you have a call-in protocol that allows you to convincingly argue that an employee didn’t provide enough information to classify the absence as qualifying for FMLA leave, it’s her word against yours.

Sexual innuendo can be sex discrimination

03/07/2019
Here’s a new worry, courtesy of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals: Allowing—or worse yet participating in—rumors that a female employee is allegedly “sleeping with the boss” to get ahead may trigger a sex discrimination lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Staffer’s assault claims cost Jackson Lee two House posts

03/06/2019
Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has agreed to step down from two positions in the U.S. House of Representatives after a former Capitol Hill staffer filed a lawsuit alleging she had been fired for reporting she was sexually assaulted by a co-worker.

Lawsuit: No place to express breast milk at KFC

03/06/2019
A Texas company that owns Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in Delaware faces a sex discrimination lawsuit charging that it denied an employee the opportunity to pump breast milk.

Workers’ comp: What happens in Texas stays in Texas

03/06/2019
Employees claiming retaliation for making a workers’ compensation claim in Texas can’t make a federal case out of it. Such claims must be heard in state courts.

Is that hate speech … or merely offensive?

03/06/2019
When it comes to offensive speech at work, context matters. Simply put, some terms have a history as expressions of racial hatred and bigotry. Therefore, they’re always inappropriate. However, other terms are not so fraught with hatred; they are just offensive.