A Stanford professor of organizational behavior makes an interesting observation about certain employer lay off practices. He believes when certain industries start laying off employees in anticipation or reaction to a perceived business downturn that in many are just copying off one another rather than reducing their workforce by necessity.

Most employer handbooks have a policy addressing solicitations at work. One major purpose of a no solicitation policy is to prevent union organizing on an employer’s premises. Union organizers want easy access to employees and where better to reach them?

Michigan’s Legislature moved quickly to repeal Michigan’s 10-year-old Right to Work law. Right to Work allows private sector union members to opt out of union dues payment should they disagree with the services rendered, the political position their union takes, or any other reason the union member may have for deciding the union has not earned their support. Right to Work gives thousands of Michigan union workers leverage to hold their unions accountable.

Employers that have multistate locations or just employees located in another state (including remote workers) need to monitor those state and local employment related laws and regulations to ensure their employee handbooks stay up to date and in compliance.

As previously reported in EPTW, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) was considering whether an oil rig worker that could earn over $200,000 per year could be classified as exempt from overtime pay. Last week SCOTUS ruled that because the job’s compensation was based upon a day rate and not a bona fide salary under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the job could not be classified as exempt and therefore must be paid overtime for any hours worked over 40 in a week.

As college students end their school year, their attention may turn to internships and co-op programs. ASE’s 2023 Salaries for Co-op Students and Recent College Graduates Survey reports that 75% of respondents employ co-ops and/or interns.

Last Thursday the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance to its regional administrators and field staff on remote worker rights on breastfeeding, breaks, and Family and Medical Leave practices. The DOL guidance states the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies the same to remote/telework employees as those working at an office, retail outlet, construction site, or factory or other workplace.

Fans of mafia cinema know the movie Casino follows the mob’s latter-day activities in Las Vegas and how they funded their Las Vegas investments through loans from various unions in the 1960’s and 70’s – a fact used by the moviemakers to show the mafia-labor union corruption back in the day. The Teamsters' connections to the mafia include Teamsters Presidents Frank Fitzimmons and of course Jimmy Hoffa leading the way. One subplot in the movie Casino was based on...

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 Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that union membership continues its over 40-year decline. Union membership in 2022 declined to 10.1% of U.S. workforce down from 10.3% in 2021. That said, total union membership rose by 273,000 to about 14.3 million workers. But, because of the number of U.S. wage and salary workers (most non-union) grew by 5.3 million workers the reported union membership as a percentage of that total workforce continued to show a decline.

What is a statute of limitations agreement? In the employment context, this is an agreement between the employer and employee that states the employee agrees to bring any claims against the employer within a specific period of time after employment.

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.”

With the Michigan Democratic party taking control of both sides of the Michigan Legislature this past fall, Democrat Legislators began calling for repeal of Michigan’s Right to Work law.

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.

Michigan repealed its prevailing wage law back in 2018. Previous to that, the prevailing wage law required businesses (primarily construction) doing work for the state, counties, or local municipalities to pay their workers at wage and fringe benefits rates determined by certain entities such as counties, the National Prevailing Wage Center, or other legitimate source.