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Employment Law

NLRB ruling raises the alarm! Even tiny employers should prepare for union drive

10/30/2023
Small employers sometimes act like they don’t have to worry about unionization, the National Labor Relations Act and the National Labor Relations Board. That’s a huge mistake! All organizations with any employees at all must comply with the NLRA and are subject to NLRB enforcement if they violate the law.

Worker-friendly NLRB final rule makes it easier to establish joint-employer status

10/27/2023
The rule says that, under the National Labor Relations Act, two or more entities may be considered joint employers if each has an employment relationship with a group of employees, and if they play a role in controlling one or more essential terms and conditions of employment.

You can’t dodge Title VII by misclassifying employees as independent contractors

10/25/2023
One benefit of engaging independent contractors to perform work is that contractors don’t count as employees for purposes of complying with laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. But, just calling someone an independent contractor doesn’t necessarily mean she is one. She might really be an employee.

Negligent employer liable for 2 years of back pay, not 3

10/25/2023
The Fair Labor Standards Act has two measures of liability: Pay two years of back pay if your failure to pay minimum wages or overtime wasn’t willful, or three years if it was. A mistaken failure to pay overtime due to negligence isn’t the same thing as willfully failing to pay employees, so an employer’s liability for back pay was limited to two years, a federal appeals court explained.

National-origin discrimination: What you need to know

10/25/2023
The rapidly increasing diversity of the U.S. workforce requires all managers to be aware of their legal responsibilities when dealing with applicants and employees from different races, ethnic groups and religions.

Prepare to comply: Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations due soon

10/23/2023
The EEOC is gearing up to begin enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The law, enacted in December 2022, requires employers to reasonably accommodate a worker’s limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an undue hardship.

ADA: Regularly review essential job functions

10/23/2023
Under the ADA, disabled workers are entitled to reasonable accommodations that allow them to perform the essential functions of their jobs. But what is an essential function? That’s almost entirely up to the employer to determine. Courts will almost always defer to the employer’s criteria as long as the employer identifies what it considers essential in job postings and job descriptions.

How to accommodate employees affected by sleep disorders, insomnia

10/19/2023
Together with insomnia, many sleep disorders may qualify as both disabilities under the ADA (warranting reasonable accommodations) and serious health conditions under the FMLA (entitling employees to take blocks of leave or intermittent leave for treatment or rest)

ADA: Make medical inquiries after extending job offer

10/19/2023
The ADA bars employers from asking applicants about their medical histories before they are hired. However, it allows those inquiries after the employer has offered the job—and employees must be honest when they answer.

Think twice before demanding proof an employee’s religion requires accommodation

10/16/2023
Thanks to a series of employee-friendly court decisions, workers now have a far easier time winning lawsuits alleging their employers failed to accommodate their religious beliefs and practices. Employers are greatly limited in how far they can go to require employees to prove their religious beliefs and practices require accommodations.