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Home » EMPLOYMENT LAW
EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

Civility & conduct rules, marijuana, and website access & ADA on the HR radar

April 28, 2022 by

By Mike O’Brien Get ready to take a new look at your employee handbook. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is widely expected to issue a decision soon that will mean increased scrutiny of common types of workplace rules, including civility and conduct rules. In a case pending before the Board, its General Counsel submitted a brief last month urging a return to an Obama-era standard for assessing the lawfulness of employer rules. A quick primer may be helpful. The NLRB is the federal agency charged with enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Section 7 of the Act gives employees the right to discuss pay and other terms and conditions of employment, and to engage in concerted activity to improve them. A common misunderstanding is a notion that the… . . . read more.

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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

Religious discrimination and pitfalls for diversity efforts

December 5, 2021 by

By Mike O’Brien Religious discrimination An Asian-American engineer who worked for a municipal utility in Stockton, California filed a lawsuit claiming that city officials belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the “Church”) sought to recruit, hire, and promote members of their own faith and that he was denied a promotion because he was a member of the Laotian Folk Religion. The trial court dismissed the lawsuit before trial, but a California appellate court reversed, ruling there was sufficient evidence of discriminatory motive for the religious bias claim to proceed to trial. The appellate court came to this conclusion even though the municipal utility employs a number of high-level employees who are not members of the Church and the position was ultimately filled by a person of… . . . read more.

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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

New technical guidance on religious exemptions to vaccination

October 31, 2021 by

By Mike O’Brien EEOC Issues New Technical Guidance on Religious Exemptions to Vaccine Mandates On Oct. 25 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new updates to its Covid-19 technical guidance. Specifically, the EEOC seeks to clarify employer obligations and employee rights related to religious exemptions to vaccine mandates. The guidance addresses the following questions: Does the employee need to use “magic words” to request an accommodation? Like requests for accommodation of a disability under the ADA, requests for religious accommodation need not use particular words or phrases like “religious accommodation” or “reasonable accommodation.” Instead, they simply need to communicate that there is a conflict between a sincerely held religious belief and a work requirement (such as a vaccine mandate). The EEOC notes that an employee may also have a religious… . . . read more.

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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

“Long COVID” looms ahead as leading ADA claim?

October 4, 2021 by

By Mike O’Brien Legal commentators are already predicting that the condition now known as “long COVID” may displace back conditions as the leading impairment asserted in charges brought under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). CNN recently reported, “A large study has revealed that one in three Covid-19 survivors have suffered symptoms three to six months after getting infected, with breathing problems, abdominal symptoms such as abdominal pain, change of bowel habit and diarrhea, fatigue, pain, anxiety, and depression among the most common issues reported.” To date, COVID-19 has infected some 43 million Americans. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) already has opined here that “long COVID can be a disability under” the ADA. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) agrees, citing the HHS paper. Guidance issued for federal contractor vaccine mandate… . . . read more.

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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

All private-sector employers with 100 or more employees must mandate vaccination or a weekly negative COVID-19 test

September 13, 2021 by

By Mike O’Brien President Biden spoke from the White House Sept. 9 to announce his new Path Out of the Pandemic Plan. Among other things, President Biden has instructed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop rules that will require private-sector employers with 100 or more employees to mandate that their employees be vaccinated or receive a weekly negative COVID test. Employers who fail to do so will face fines. Some media outlets report that such fines could be up to $14,000 per violation. Along with President Biden’s spoken remarks, the White House also issued this statement: The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated… . . . read more.

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HIRING & FIRING

The least you need to know about at-will employment

August 15, 2021 by

By Paul Edwards At-will employment can seem freeing for employers, but it can also provide a false sense of security. On the one hand, it’s liberating to be able to terminate employees for any lawful reason at any time. On the other, unlawful termination—or activities that can be construed as such—can put you at risk for litigation and are not protected by the tenants of at-will employment. The latter scenario is why the myth of at-will employment being a protective shield that allows employers to fire for any reason or no reason at all needs to be better understood by all managers and owners. So, to lessen the fear factor and help you sidestep at-will employment potholes and myths, here’s the least you need to know about at-will employment along with… . . . read more.

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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

New rules for wellness programs & marijuana legal in more places

January 30, 2021 by

By Mike O’Brien bio Employment law continues to change rapidly with a change in federal government administration and the continuing pandemic. As manager of a medical office, it’s just one more thing to keep up with. Here are a few recent developments.  New rules coming for employer wellness programs On Jan. 7, 2021, the EEOC issued proposed rules related to what incentives employers can offer as part of wellness programs. The new rules come in response to a decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that vacated a portion of the EEOC’s previous ADA and GINA regulations. HIPAA allows employers to offer incentives up to 30 percent of the total cost of health insurance to encourage participation in certain types of wellness programs. However, the ADA… . . . read more.

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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

Who’s an independent contractor? DOL explains

October 13, 2020 by

By Mike O’Brien bio DOL tries to clarify independent contractor definition The US Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed what it believes is a simplified definition of independent contractor (IC) for purposes of applying wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which applies only to employees. The new DOL proposal still focuses on the factors of economic reality, but tries to clarify how to apply them. DOL says employers first should focus on two core factors: (1) the nature and degree of the worker’s control over the work and (2) the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss based on initiative and/or investment. If both factors point to either employee status or IC status, that probably is the right classification. If not, DOL says three additional factors must be… . . . read more.

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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

Top 10 questions an employer should ask before returning employees to work

May 26, 2020 by

By Mike O’Brien bio As various states and municipalities across the country lift shutdowns and begin easing COVID restrictions, employers are faced with complex questions about safely bringing their employees back to the workplace. We’ve compiled the top 10 questions every employer should consider before returning employees to work.    How do we implement proper infection prevention measures? First, and perhaps foremost, employers should design, implement, communicate, and begin to monitor basic infection prevention measures as they return employees to onsite work. Although a complex task, OSHA and CDC have both published step-by-step instructions for employers on how to implement appropriate infection prevention measures. OSHA has published an employer Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19, which outlines the specific steps it believes all employers should take to reduce workers’ risk of exposure… . . . read more.

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INSIGHT

Employment Law Update: The New Year’s Resolutions Edition

December 31, 2018 by

By Mike O’Brien  bio
A lawyer and doctor were talking together at a New Year’s party when the doctor complained about how people always asked her for free medical advice. She said…


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