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Employment Law

Kaplan appointed NLRB chair, signaling coming pro-employer tilt

01/27/2025
President Trump on Jan. 21 tapped Marvin E. Kaplan to serve as chair of the National Labor Relations Board. Kaplan, currently the only Republican on the NLRB, became a board member in 2017.

After Muldrow, beware routine management decisions that may trigger bias lawsuits

01/27/2025
Courts recognize that employers must be free to manage their workforces as they see fit—with some limitations. But that live-and-let-live ethos changed when the Supreme Court issued its Muldrow v. St. Louis decision in April 2024.

Ignore military-service absences when considering promotions, calculating benefits

01/24/2025
Employers with military-connected employees understand they must grant military leave when members of the National Guard or reserves are called up for training or active-duty service. But that’s just the beginning.

Experimental treatments are covered under the FMLA

01/23/2025
The Department of Labor has concluded in a letter to a medical organization that FMLA-covered leave taken by an employee with a serious health condition includes leave to participate in an experimental medical treatment.

Employee providing care for seriously ill sibling? Consider agreeing to request for FMLA leave

01/21/2025
The FMLA provides job-protected leave so employees can care for a long list of close relatives, including spouses, children and parents. The law even allows leave to care for grandchildren and grandparents if there is an in loco parentis relationship between them. But what about siblings?

Supreme Court’s employer-friendly ruling: FLSA classification standard is ‘preponderance of the evidence’

01/21/2025
The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 15 unanimously ruled that employers can win lawsuits claiming they misclassified an employee as exempt if a preponderance of the evidence supports their case. The court rejected a much tougher standard—clear and convincing evidence—that would have made it easier for employees to win misclassification lawsuits.

How to handle allergies in the workplace

01/15/2025
Fortunately for employers, most allergic symptoms aren’t debilitating enough to constitute disabilities under the ADA. But for millions of employees, that’s not the case, so companies should be prepared to handle these instances.

PWFA excludes time to bond

01/15/2025
The PWFA requires employers to accommodate pregnancy limitations, but does not require time off to bond.

Determine legitimacy of absence through call-off rules

01/15/2025
You expect employees to show up on time, as scheduled. But absences do happen, for many reasons. The only way to separate legitimate absences from frivolous or fraudulent ones is to require prior notice and a reason.

It’s not just the FLSA—monitor and comply with state and local wage-and-hour laws, too

01/15/2025
Make it a point to monitor state and local wage-and-hour laws and prepare in advance to comply.