A new case has been filed in the Northern District of Texas which could upend the Fair Labor Standards Act law (FLSA).  The new case attacks the two-prong approach of the U.S. Department of Labor of establishing exempt employee thresholds using a salary hurdle test and then the duties test. 

With the great resignation, the labor pricing dilemma for many manufacturing organizations, and the rise of less skilled labor (can anyone find an electrical engineer these days?), the move to automation seems inevitable.  For example, with the rise of artificial intelligence, anyone could be a programmer with the AI predicting the next line.  For DEI professionals it becomes a way to create diversity in the programming ranks.  According to a recent study, 47% of U.S. jobs are...

Last week, the Michigan Supreme Court in a 5-2 decision ruled in the Rouch World LLC v. Department of Civil Rights (SC Docket 162482) case that sexual orientation is covered by “sex” in the Elliott-Larsen Act. This case was brought by businesses that denied services to customers who were either a same-sex couple or an individual who was transitioning their gender identity for religious reasons. Defendants in the lawsuit include Uprooted Electrolysis LLC, based in Gwinn, and Rouch...

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) commissioned a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS), which studied the EEOC’s historic, first-time collection of pay data from certain private employers and federal contractors completed in 2020. The NAS study was commissioned by a unanimous vote of the bipartisan Commission in 2020. 

In a recent situation that not only involved religious beliefs but also medical needs, a Walgreens’ employee refused to sell a male contraceptive to a married woman because it violated their faith.  Walgreens policy allows for employees to do this.  A Walgreens spokesperson said that its employees are allowed to “step away from completing a transaction to which they have a moral objection.”  A manager eventually sold the contraceptive to the woman. 

A number of questions have come through the ASE HR Hotline about immigration issues from E-Verify to H-1B increases.  The best answer currently is when immigration reform happens, if it does, it will be a bipartisan effort.  E-Verify will likely be required of all employers, and H-1B visas may be increased.  Any questions about Dreamers (estimated to be around 3.6 million) and those children of H-1Bs who aged out of the process (estimated to be about 200,000 or so) will likely...

Layoffs, what?  In this market?  Employers cannot find workers and yet now there is talk of retrenchment.  Whether soft or hard landing, most agree that a recession is coming. 

Although there were a number of ancillary issues with the recent U.S. Supreme Court case of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, No. 21-418 (June 27, 2022), a major question for employers is how to now regulate religion in the workplace.  At first blush, the Kennedy decision seemed to be about a public high school teacher leading a prayer with students at the 50-yard line after a football game, separation of church and state, but it has broader implications as to religion in the...

With the holiday behind us and the pandemic winding its way leading to more normalcy, the ability to rest and essentially take it easy is creating an opportunity to recharge and become more productive.  With most organizations offering limited time off, depending on the number of years the employee has worked, time off can range from 10 days to 25 days according to ASE’s 2022 Michigan Policies & Practices Survey.

Last Friday, the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion decided in an earlier Supreme Court case in 1973 called Roe v. Wade. In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute banning abortion, effectively legalizing the procedure across the United States. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392 (June 24, 2022), the Supreme Court ruled that Mississippi could ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, overturning Roe v. Wade.

California’s progressiveness has been a possible lead to new workplace trends.  Now AB 2932, which is moving through the state legislature, would change the definition of a workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours for companies with more than 500 employees.  However, a full workday would remain at 8 hours. Under California law working more than 32 hours would then lead to overtime pay.  This law would impact about 2,600 businesses and more than 3.6 million employees.

Currently, the U. S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (Wage & Hour) has been conducting a series of listening sessions in various regions to hear what industry and workers’ organizations thoughts are about raising the salary level for exempt employees. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) has its issues, but in the long run, it does assist in today’s job marketplace.  While currently in the beginning stages, ten years from now, AI will likely be the expected form of communication between job applicants and employers.  With so many resumes submitted for a job, sifting through them in a timely manner and still trying to maintain a positive applicant experience while being short-handed, is a quagmire most recruiting organizations try...

For the past 20 years or so, many HR consultants and thinkers have called employees “assets” or “capital assets” of the employer.  The problem with these terms is manyfold. 

As more organizations embrace artificial intelligence (AI), the EEOC and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have begun to be more cognizant of the discriminatory issues associated with these tools.