Employment

Employers do not have to pay their employees to attend mandatory alcohol counseling and treatment sessions, according to a New York Federal court.

Predicting the Super Bowl victor used to be easy. You just looked at the city with the lower unemployment rate and who Elijah that lovable orangutan picked and you called it a day.

Yesterday, the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would rescind the Labor Department’s sex discrimination guidelines for federal contractors and subcontractors and replace them with new rules.

This past September, we discussed the practical and legal implication of changing attitudes towards parental leave for fathers. Following up on this theme, Massachusetts recently passed a law, the Massachusetts Parental Leave Act (the “Parental Leave Act”), which will replace the current Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act (the “Maternity Leave Act”).

A case out of a New York State appeals court should remind employers that they may liable for discrimination where they take an adverse action against an employee based on the employee’s association with someone in a protected class.

Recently, in Hargrove v. Sleepy’s, LLC, the New Jersey Court issued a unanimous decision raising the bar for New Jersey employers seeking to classify individuals as independent contractors under New Jersey’s Wage Payment Law (governing time and mode of wage payments) and New Jersey’s Wage and Hour Law (governing minimum wage and overtime).

So it’s going to snow a lot today and tomorrow. A lot. A potential blizzard. Some say this could be one of the biggest snowstorms ever to hit the East Coast.

On January 14, 2015, Judge Richard J. Leon of the DC Federal District Court issued another favorable opinion for home care employers by vacating a Department of Labor regulation that would have narrowed the definition of “companionship services.”

Those of you reading our Employee Mobility blog posts are familiar with California’s unique approach to non-compete agreements: they are, except in a few limited circumstances, unenforceable in the Golden State.

My colleague Patty Moran authored an article recently published in Bloomberg BNA about the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility rules that took effect this month. According to this mandate, employers of a certain size must either offer coverage to full-time employees or risk paying a penalty.

Last October, we reported on DC’s soon-to-be-enacted DC Wage Theft Prevention Amendment Act.

Welcome to 2015 and the start of California’s Anti-Bullying Training Requirements. Employers of 50 or more in California must now add an “anti-bullying” training requirement to their training curriculum, which is required to be delivered every two years to supervisory personnel regarding harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in the workplace.

My colleagues Jen Rubin and Rich Kelly co-authored an article recently published in Corporate Board Member magazine in which they outline principles and proven techniques to help board members navigate a fast-moving CEO termination.

A federal judge in Arkansas granted summary judgment for ConAgra Foods in a collective action brought by a group of departmental Team Leaders who alleged ConAgra misclassified them as exempt and denied them overtime pay in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In a novel case, a New York federal court judge recently denied an employer’s motion to dismiss a Section 1981 alienage discrimination class action lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company violated that Act by implementing a policy of hiring only US citizens and lawful permanent residents.

My colleague, Tyrone Thomas, was quoted in The Patriot News article entitled Does a Settlement of Remaining Penn State Sanctions Issues Help the NCAA, in which he comments on the NCAA’s enforcement processes as they relate to the child abuse sex scandal at Penn State.

Our sister blog — Privacy and Security Matters — has released its annual update to the Mintz Matrix of State Data Breach Notification Laws, which highlights some significant changes in important states — such as California and Florida. We hope you'll find it useful.

On January 1, 2015, the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer shared responsibility mandate took effect. Up until July 1, 2013, most employers doing business in Massachusetts were required to comply with an employer mandate commonly known as the Fair Share law.

We have written before about the EEOC’s increased focus on the potential disparate impact of employers’ use of background checks in screening applicants for employment, and of a recent federal appeals court decision that put up a significant road block in the EEOC’s efforts to prove disparate impact caused by credit checks as a screening tool.

Governor Cuomo has now signed a bill repealing the annual pay notice requirement.  As we reported earlier, the legislature is set to pass a bill in the coming days to make the repeal effective immediately rather than in 60 days, so that employers will not have to worry about distributing notices next month.