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Employment Law

Disabled new hire? You must engage in the ADA’s interactive accommodations process no matter what

07/10/2024
Because disabled individuals may fear—sometimes rightly so—that employers wouldn’t hire them if they knew about their disability, the ADA doesn’t require applicants to reveal disabilities during the interview and hiring phase. Thus, it may catch employers by surprise when the first thing a new hire does is request a reasonable accommodation.

A ruff reasonable accommodation claim

07/10/2024
While it’s important to support employees’ health and well-being, accommodations should not compromise the core aspects of your business operations.

HR’s big artificial intelligence question: Does AI candidate screening discriminate?

07/10/2024
AI skeptics and a growing cadre of plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that instead of preventing hiring bias, relying on an AI algorithm may actually bake discrimination into the selection process. That’s what is alleged in one recent complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission and another with the EEOC.

Court order signals FTC’s noncompete ban may be struck down

07/08/2024
A federal judge in Texas on July 3 issued a preliminary injunction that partially prohibits the Federal Trade Commission from enforcing a rule that bans employers from using noncompete agreements. The court’s ruling likely means the rule will be overturned before it takes effect in September.

Tips for managing employees with long COVID

07/08/2024
A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine highlights how serious long COVID is and likely will continue to be, possibly for decades. The report says this affects about 8.9 million adults in the United States, encompassing more than 200 symptoms that involve just about every organ in the body. That means about 7% of all adults in the U.S. are affected by the condition.

Despite federal court’s narrow restriction, start complying with new OT rule

07/01/2024
Ruling on the first of two lawsuits seeking injunctions to block the rule, Judge Sean D. Jordan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas decreed June 28 that Texas state government agencies do not have to comply with the overtime rule. All other employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act do.

McFerran nominated to serve third term on NLRB

07/01/2024
National Labor Relations Board Chair Lauren McFerran’s current term doesn’t end until December. However, if the Senate confirms her nomination again, it will ensure the NLRB retains a Democratic majority until at least August 2026, even if presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump defeats Biden in November.

Employers can’t force religious conformity

06/28/2024
The Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Groff v. DeJoy expanded employees’ right to religious accommodations at work. Unless an accommodation creates an undue hardship, employers must allow for religious needs such as time off to worship and permission to deviate from dress and grooming codes. But what about the right of employees to be free of religion at work—or at least the religion professed by management, owners or co-workers?

DOL targets federal contractors accused of discrimination

06/28/2024
Like any other employer, companies that perform contract work for the federal government may not discriminate on the basis of sex, age, race, national origin and other protected characteristics made illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other federal nondiscrimination laws. Unlike other employers, they must answer to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, a part of the Department of Labor specifically dedicated to ensuring federal contractors abide by non-discrimination rules.

Older workers could get new exemption from mandatory arbitration agreements

06/28/2024
Congress is considering legislation that would ban mandatory arbitration of disputes involving older workers covered by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.