Geoffrey Fieger is known for being a tough litigator and plaintiff’s attorney. However, his firm lost in a Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) case decided by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last week. The case involved one of his female attorneys requesting unpaid leave to care for her 2-year-old son that she feared had contracted COVID and already suffered from respiratory illness. Before she could formalize the request and provide the necessary FMLA supporting information, Fieger...

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Marty Walsh and White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young issued a joint memo to the heads of executive departments and agencies directing them to designate “labor advisors.”  The purpose of the labor advisors is to assist in the strengthening of implementation and review of Federal contract labor and employment practices based on recommendations from the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing...

Updating your employee handbook is a critical annual initiative for an HR department.  It ensures compliance with industry standards and federal and state laws.  

Last week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) blew the proverbial lifeguard whistle on employer non-compete agreements and said they were going to order “everybody out of the pool.”

In a time when labor hoarding is occurring in some sectors, yet in others, layoffs are happening, employers with H-1Bs need to follow a process or it could be a costly mistake in which an H-1B is not found to be properly terminated.

 

California is once again looking at making changes to how employers can use information from background checks in employment decisions. The California Civil Rights Department’s Civil Right Council released their most recent draft of changes to their Fair Employment and Housing Ace (FEHA) this past December. This update addresses proposed changes to the use of criminal history for employment decisions.

Although a number of new laws started January 1, there are three that stand out for HR professionals outside of all the pay transparency laws.  These three laws were encompassed in the FY 2023 Omnibus Spending Bill, and all had bipartisan support.

Although it would be expected that the ending of the year should be a quiet one, the Biden administration is going out with a bang that will cause some heartache for employers.  Below is a listing of some of the changes to expect going forward.

GINA or the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act has been around for well over 14 years. It prohibits discrimination by an employer against employees or applicants because of genetic information. It also prohibits employers from using genetic information when making employment decisions and restricts them from requesting, requiring, or even purchasing genetic information as well as limiting disclosure of such information if they obtain it.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has submitted a new scheduling letter and itemized listing for review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).  The present scheduling letter expires in 2023.

A recent U.S. Federal 11th Circuit case upended the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance as to disability and accommodations.  Under the guidance, an employee merely has a functional rather than a medical definition of disability, and the determination of whether an individual has a disability doesn't necessarily hinge on the name or diagnosis of an impairment. Once an employer is on notice, they must engage in an interactive discussion concerning any...

Many human resources professionals have experienced the worker that for one reason or another gets fed up and just walks off the job. It’s unfortunate and disrupting but also sets the machinations of employment policy and law in motion. A recent Michigan Court of Appeals case affirms that employees that walk off the job not only voluntarily quit, but also disqualify themselves from unemployment compensation benefits.

For the first time in four decades, the Michigan Democratic Party holds control of the state government. Employers have benefited from GOP control over the years as unfriendly employer legislation was bottled up in committees never to see the light of day. With the Michigan Legislature now controlled by a Democrat majority and a Democrat Governor there is not much to stop the flood of pro-labor legislation that has been held back for years.

No poaching agreements are arrangements between employers where the parties agree they will not hire one another’s workers. They are also illegal. Last week a healthcare staffing company entered a plea deal with the Department of Justice that held them criminally liable for having a deal in place with an un-named competitor to not raise wages of nurses working in a county school district and to not hire nurses from one another.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that abortion and access to abortion is not a constitutional right and reverted back to state laws for determining the legality of the procedure.  In other words, only states have the power to regulate abortion and access to it.