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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor announced here that it will issue a final overtime rule today. Most notably, the DOL is updating the earnings thresholds necessary to exempt executive, administrative and professional employees (EAPs) from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.

Below, I’ll address that new salary level and just about everything else that employers need to know about this new rule: Continue reading

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By Shane Smith, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

An employee with severe shoulder pain sought and received from his employer leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The employer notified the employee that the leave was limited to up to four medical appointments per year and for monthly flare-ups lasting up to three days per episode.

Then, things got curious.
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It’s called the FAIR Act, which stands for the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act. The FAIR Act would amend the Federal Arbitration Act to prohibit a pre-dispute arbitration agreement from being valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of an employment, consumer, antitrust, or civil rights dispute. Continue reading

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I can often draw upon my years of experience as an employment lawyer to predict from reading the first paragraph of a federal court opinion how the court is going to decide the discrimination claim before it. Continue reading

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On Monday, I blogged (here) about a manager who commented on the hands of a female employee who had suffered severe nerve damages to them after a car accident. He called her hands “disgusting.”

It didn’t end well for the employer. Continue reading

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Fred the Oyster [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

One of the first hits when you Google ‘resignation letter’ is this career advice from Monster. The job board offers some tips for crafting a letter of resignation, among them: a statement of intent that you will be leaving your job, the date of your last day on the job, and your contact info. One of the optional items Monster suggests including is a highlight of your time there.

Monster’s advice is pretty spot on. Except, that is, when the individual later decides to assert claims of hostile work environment and constructive discharge.

Because, as you’ll find out in this post, nothing undermines those claims like a thoughtful resignation letter. Continue reading

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A few decades ago, some men sued Hooters Restaurant, claiming that the purveyor of chicken wings, burgers, beer, and shapely female servers in tight, revealing outfits, was discriminating against males who were denied employment as servers.

That case resolved in 1997, with Hooters serving up a multi-million dollar settlement and opening up a few gender-neutral positions at the restaurant.

But, not servers. Continue reading

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