Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations setting a new salary level test for determining job exempt status. To classify a job as exempt from overtime and certain record keeping compliance requirements, a job typically must meet three tests:

Since the Michigan Supreme Court ruled the process of adopt and amend to be unconstitutional earlier this summer, employers have been faced with the prospect of complying with two problematic employment laws early next year. Michigan’s minimum wage law and the paid sick leave law will change back to the original ballot initiatives passed back in 2018 on February 21, 2025. 

Another Labor Day has come and gone.  This weekend is set aside to celebrate our workers and typically unions.  For decades each Labor Day we have heard that the tide has turned, and unions are coming back.  Over the past few years, union activism and activity have “popped.” But what has resulted from this recent uptick in union activity?

ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. These are policies that companies are being asked to adopt that are “strategic frameworks that guide businesses in managing their environmental footprint, fostering social responsibility, and upholding strong governance practices.”

Yesterday a federal court in Texas (Northern District) blocked a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule that would have put a ban on most all employee non-compete agreements scheduled to go into effect September 4th. The FTC’s rule banned non-compete agreements and other contract terms employers use to protect themselves and their businesses against unfair competition and theft of trade secrets by unscrupulous employees.

Michigan’s Attorney General, Dana Nessel, entered into an agreement with the Detroit and Minneapolis National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) offices to report and refer violations of labor law that the State comes across.  The violations will be reported directly to the NLRB for investigation and possible prosecution, thus, giving the pro-labor federal agency more eyes on employers.

While employers and others were digesting what the Michigan Supreme Court did to employers with its ruling on the Minimum Wage and Paid Medical Leave laws last week, talk has started to grow around a new law enacting Michigan Paid Family and Medical Leave that could pay employees up to fifteen (15) weeks of leave per year if they qualify for the benefit.

Last week the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the "adopt and amend” enaction of our current minimum wage and paid medical leave was unconstitutional. This means that PA 337 and PA 338, the original ballot initiatives of 2018, will take effect February 21, 2025. It also means larger employers that adopted paid time off benefits compliant with the amended law will have to modify their paid time off policies to comply with the originally passed law. It also means small employers,...

Employers that hire outside consultants to help persuade workers to stay union free are required to file reports of this expenditure to the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) each year stating so. This is nothing new. Employers file an LM-10 within 90 days of the end of the employer’s fiscal year. The outside consultants also have to file two forms. One must be filed within 90 days from the end of the consultant’s fiscal year and another form...

With the ubiquity and convenience of online gambling, are employer “no gambling” rules a bit anachronistic? Maybe so. In conducting an informal survey of just under 50 employee handbooks reviewed by ASE in the last four years, a no gambling policy or rule was found in 25% of those handbooks. Typically, this rule was buried deep in a general rules or standards of conduct policy.

Earlier this year the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a rule that would ban almost every post-employment non-competition provision. Non-competition agreements are agreements that limit or totally restrict the employee’s ability to obtain similar employment somewhere else within a stated geographic region and also typically for a stated period of time. An employment candidate’s job offer is also typically contingent upon the employee agreeing to the contract.

Last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its report on state and local government worker pay. It showed that public worker pay is nearly 40% higher than private sector workers. Remember this next time a call for tax increases is made.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule changing the salary level test from $684/week to $844/week took effect as scheduled. This rule is being challenged in several Texas federal courts. It was hoped by some, that one of those Court decisions would result in the issuance of an injunction for the entire United States. However, in one case, the injunction issued on Friday only impacts State of Texas public employees. In the second case, the Court declined to issue an...

A recent survey by job site MyPerfectResume found that of 1000 respondents 86% of workers fear their human resources representative. Further, 85% reported that they hesitated to go the HR to discuss their work-related issues.

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was using an easier test to determine if it had more power to enjoin employers accused of committing unfair labor practices than say other injunction seekers that come before the court. This ruling may curtain some of the NLRB’s more intrusive actions against employers that it has been pursuing under the Biden labor Board.

140 Michigan employment and labor bills have been introduced since the start of the current legislative session back in January 2023. Most are still in committee. Those that have been passed are primarily focused on public employers which leaves many bills that impact private employers in Michigan still languishing in their respective committees.

Did you know that the costs for being unionized are far more than just increased wages and benefits?

A 2003 Employment Policy Foundation study found that a company with 10% of its workforce in a union could experience 2.6% higher unit labor costs and a 21% lower before-tax profit than its non-union counterparts.

The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I narcotic down to a Schedule III drug. Schedule I controlled substances are in the “mean street neighborhood” including heroin, LSD, and other drugs with “no currently acceptable medical use or treatment.” Schedule III drugs, on the other hand, where it is proposed marijuana be moved to is in a “friendlier neighborhood” of classified...

Last week workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant near Tuskaloosa, Alabama voted down unionization by the United Auto Workers (UAW). The unofficial vote count was 2642 votes against vs. 2045 votes for the union. This came about a month after the UAW won its election at the Volkswagen (VW) plant further north in Chattanooga, Tennessee. There the UAW won 2628 votes for the union vs. 985 against the union.

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled last Friday that the friends of an employee who also work at the same place are protected from retaliation by the employer.  Following similar protections found under the federal civil rights act under Title VII, the Michigan Court found that Michigan’s Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act also permits workers to bring third party, or associational, retaliation claims if they think the employer targeted them to punish a coworker for bringing a claim...

Over the weekend I came across an article in the Labor Union News entitled "UAW Involvement and Support in Pro-Palestinian Protests Raises Question.” The gist of the article was that the UAW may be supporting at least some of the pro-Palestinian protests causing problems at many universities right now.

Last week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a final rule banning employer noncompete agreements. Noncompete agreements or clauses per the FTC are a “term or condition of employment  that prohibits a worker from, penalizes a worker for, or prevents a worker from (1) seeking or accepting work in the United States with a different person where such work would begin after the conclusion of the employment that includes the term or condition; or (2) operating a business in...

As we wrote about last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its final rules implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The final rules provide some important definitions to understand.

On Monday the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported that the final version of the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (PWFA) regulations will be published in the Federal Register August 19th.  The PWFA was passed December 29, 2022, and took effect in June of 2023. Last August proposed rules were released, and the public’s comments were requested. Over 100,000 comments were received.

Limitation of Action Agreements are a contract between the employer and employee, usually agreed upon at the start of employment or even before on the application form, whereby the employee agrees they will not bring a wrongful employment lawsuit against their employer typically beyond 180 days of the cause of action. This shortens the time an employee can bring a wrongful employment lawsuit against their employer from what the statute or common law may ordinarily provide them.