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New York

Court: Mum can’t be the word when it comes to confidentiality of FLSA settlements

02/09/2015
A federal court has nixed the idea of a confidential Fair Labor Standards Act settlement. The court concluded that keeping violations secret goes against the spirit of the FLSA because it would allow employers to effectively hide violations from public scrutiny.

Invoke FMLA when employee can’t do job

02/09/2015

Sometimes a pregnant employee develops problems that amount to a temporary disability. Then she may need accommodations. But if those accommodations don’t allow the employee to perform the essential functions of the job, you can place the employee on FMLA leave. If she can’t return to work when her FMLA entitlement is up, you may terminate the employee without violating the FMLA.

Start progressive discipline if there’s been no cooperation

01/22/2015

Some employees resent it when their employer requests work that falls outside their usual job duties. They may resist training and generally become uncooperative to the point of insubordination. That’s when it’s time to implement your progressive discipline system.

Employee on workers’ comp refuses to take a drug test: Is it legal to terminate him?

01/14/2015
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Technological change drives three new NLRB decisions

01/14/2015
The National Labor Relations Board has issued three far-reaching decisions that change long-standing practices under the National Labor Relations Act. All reflect a disquieting connection between modern communications and old-fashioned labor relations.

Transgender employees: The new protected category?

01/14/2015

By now, most employers are familiar with the list of categories protected from employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act: race, color, religion, national origin and sex. Other federal anti-discrimination laws add additional protected categories to the list: disability (ADA), age (Age Discrimination in Employment Act), pregnancy (Pregnancy Dis­­crimi­­nation Act) and genetic information (Genetic Information Non­­dis­­crimi­­na­­tion Act). Absent is any mention of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Amazon, NLRB reach accord on ‘disrespectful, loud’ speech

01/14/2015
Online retail giant Amazon and the NLRB have resolved an unfair labor practices claim with an agreement that could lead to unionization of many of the company’s warehouses. The move was prompted by a heavy-handed response to an employee complaint during an employee meeting.

Study suggests widespread minimum wage violations in NY

01/14/2015
A study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor finds that somewhere between 3.5% and 6.5% of workers in New York earn less than the minimum wage. The study, performed by Eastern Research Group, showed that more than 300,000 New York workers were being paid illegally low wages.

Not every complaint amounts to protected activity

01/14/2015

It’s illegal to retaliate against employees for engaging in protected activity. But not every complaint qualifies as protected activity. For example, under Title VII, retaliation is only illegal if it relates to a complaint about some form of discrimination covered by that law.

False arrest can be retaliation

01/14/2015
It’s almost always a bad idea to make an example out of a terminated employee.