The Employer Handbook

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Flag-map of New Jersey.svg

By Darwinek – self-made using Image:Flag of New Jersey.svg and Image:USA New Jersey location map.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

On Wednesday, I blogged about how Democrats in the U.S. Senate were introducing a new bill to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour.

Yesterday, the State of New Jersey completed a roadmap to a $15/hr minimum wage in the Garden State. Continue reading

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Copyright Free – Stock Free images. Public Domain image dedication. CC0 1.0 Universal Licence – http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

For nearly ten years, from September 1, 1997 through July 23, 2007, the federal minimum wage was $5.15 per hour. Three times in the following two years, the minimum wage rose, settling in at $7.25 per hour on July 24, 2009. The minimum wage has remained $7.25 since then.

That might change soon. Continue reading

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Phillips 66 logo.svg

By Phillips 66 Company – http://hrcpdocctr.phillips66.com/HR_P66_Comm/Benefits/BenefitHighlights.pdf, Public Domain, Link

Among Fortune 500 companies, 91% prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and 83% prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.  [Source] But, under federal law, circuit courts remain split as to whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination based on LGBT status.

So, let’s say you’re a Fortune 500 company accused of LGBT discrimination in a jurisdiction in which the law may permit that type of abhorrent behavior.

Do you defend by arguing that the law permits LGBT discrimination?   Continue reading

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Judge Brett Michael Kavanaugh

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the opinion for a unanimous Supreme Court in a case called Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc.  Although the Court’s decision has nothing to do with employment law — it’s a case about antitrust issues and arbitration — there’s a little something from Justice Kavanaugh’s that may be more than a little something.

At least as it relates to a big employment case that could be coming down Supreme Court Boulevard in 2019. Continue reading

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Seal of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

U.S. Government [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

At midnight on December 22, 2018, the federal government shut down.  Well, not completely. But, a lot of federal employees are working without knowing when they may get paid.

Plus, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is already operating on a contingency plan — and that was before EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum’s commission ended on Friday, which left the administrative agency without a quorum.

I think that there’s a lot here to unpack here. Let’s get to it.  Continue reading

“Doing What’s Right – Not Just What’s Legal”