As many employers know by now, the Michigan Legislature amended the two expensive and administratively burdensome laws this month. They now go to the Governor’s desk for signature. However, Governor Snyder is being somewhat cagey in his support for passage. On Sunday’s Channel 4 show, Flashpoint, Devin Scillian asked Governor Snyder if he would be signing the laws. Governor Snyder responded he was looking at all laws passed by the lame duck Legislature for policy value...
OFCCP is moving at light speed to make changes as to how it operates. There have been a number of new directives in 2018 already, “righting the ship” from the previous administration. Now comes three new directives for Fiscal Year 2019 (DIR 2019-01, DIR 2019-04, and DIR 2019-03). These directives are officially changing the way OFCCP is doing business and how audits will be handled in the future.
For employers defending an equal pay act (EPA) discrimination claim, the “factor other than sex” affirmative defense generally prevails, except when it doesn’t. And lately, courts have been more reluctant to accept the affirmative defense.
As covered in the November 21st issue of EPTW, Michigan employers have to monitor what paid time off benefits will be required of them going forward. Will Michigan’s GOP-led legislature repeal the Michigan’s Earned Sick Time Act entirely or just amend it in order to relieve some of its expense to smaller employers? It appears that pro-business parties may just go for amending the law down to some “reasonable” degree.
Our Michigan Legislature will be returning to work the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The session between then and the end of the year is what is called the Lame Duck Session. Lame Duck is a term used in politics that refers to elected officials whose successor has already been elected so they have less influence because they only have a limited time left serving. Though that sounds a bit depressing, the flip side of the coin is a lame duck is free to do things without much fear of consequence.
With the election over and the results showing Democrats taking over the House of Representatives and the Republicans retaining Senate control, what does it mean for employers? It is expected that the House Democrats will push a pro-labor and regulatory agenda as well as an aggressive oversight of the Executive Branch. The Senate Republicans will likely continue staffing the Federal courts, which will have a long-term impact on employment cases, and thus employment policy.
Last week Michigan’s electorate voted in Democrat Gretchen Whitmer as Michigan’s Governor, breaking eight years of solid GOP governance in Michigan. Not to mention the state Republican Supreme Court as well. Employers, overall, have enjoyed a pro-business environment for quite a long time where governance has been pragmatic and not by “gotcha” legal and regulatory enforcement.
The people of the State of Michigan passed Proposal 18-1, also known as Proposal 1 or Prop 1, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. Below are answers to some of the questions employers may have around the legalization of marijuana and drug testing in the workplace.
Terry Bonnette, Partner, Nemeth Law PC presented on this topic at our Annual HR Conference last March. It is an important issue today as a number of factors have risen, making HR shake their heads in confusion. As seen in the news, the most vexing issue for employers today is how gender identity and sexual orientation rights are competing with religious beliefs and rights. With these issues spilling into the workplace, it is important for HR to have a game plan when these...
Next Tuesday the country will vote in its midterm elections. By some accounts this election is likely to see a lot more people voting than normal. That means employers may see workers coming in late or leaving early or during the day to vote. Employers should be aware that in certain states employees taking worktime to vote are protected from employer discipline or discharge. In some states, workers must even be paid while out to vote.
Just over two years ago, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published rules that more than suggested employers could no longer have mandatory post-accident/injury drug testing. The rule amended 9 C.F.R. § 1904.35 to add a provision prohibiting employers from retaliating against employees for reporting work-related injuries or illnesses.
Currently, the definition of joint employment is all over the place, depending on the agency. Before 2009, joint employment essentially required direct control of the other employer’s employees. In other words, if the joint employer was controlling all work situations such as hiring and firing, joint employment was likely to be found. Under the Obama administration, joint employment was based not just on direct control, but indirect control. In other words, signing the...
Although an offer letter and an employment contract have similarities, they are very different. An offer letter has very basic terms and conditions of employment, generally subject to completion of a successful background check and/or medical exam, and states that employment is at-will. In other words, the employee can walk anytime, although notice requirement is requested, and the employer can terminate for any reason at any time. This term will likely prevent, in a dispute...
More and more employers are using background screening as part of the employment process. This is important for protecting employees as well as the company. These days we see acts of violence happening in the work place far too often in the news. We also see more litigation against employers based not only on what they knew, but what they should have known, so it is logical that background screening is important.
Last week the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals re-instated an employee terminated because while arguing with his supervisor he allegedly made threatening remarks. It was also known the employee carried concealed weapons on his person or in his vehicle. This would be in breach of the company’s workplace violence policy that prohibits employees from possessing unauthorized weapons in the workplace. Several days later representatives of the company along with a union representative and a...