Democrats and Republicans don’t often see eye to eye on new employment legislation. Except, it seems, when Gretchen Carlson spearheads the effort to get these new bills passed. In March, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 into law. That law…
The complexities of the Family and Medical Leave Act can bollocks even multi-billion-dollar companies. But the case I’m going to tell you about today is a reminder that, at bottom, the FMLA is largely no-harm, non-foul. In early 2018, an employee with a serious health condition spoke to her doctor,…
I have another HR tip related to yesterday’s blog post and accommodating employees under the Americans with Disabilities Act and what counts as an essential job function. Generally, the essential functions of the job are the ones that employees perform the most. However, there are situations where rarely-performed tasks can…
If you’re in Human Resources, you’ve probably dealt with this issue before. An employee with a disability submits a doctor’s note expressly instructing the employee to avoid performing certain essential functions of their job. But the employee tells you that they can do those tasks anyway, if truly necessary. Does the Americans…
Sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act) protect employees from retaliation for concerted protected activity. Protected concerted activity generally involves two or more employees discussing working conditions like pay, benefits, etc. One of the employees who lost his job at Twitter this month — a…
It depends on who you ask. According to the plaintiffs and their counsel in this recently filed first amended complaint, the social media giant violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). One of the plaintiffs upped the ante with a separate unfair labor practice charge, which he…
This has been an interesting start to the week at The Employer Handbook, from six-year-olds slinging racial epithets to expectorating employees. But I’m here for it. And I’m glad that you are too. I’ve fielded my share of unusual disability accommodation requests. But allowing an employee with a condition caused…
In my many years of practicing employment law, I’ve seen hostile work environment accusations leveled against owners, supervisors, co-workers, subordinates, customers, vendors, and many others. But accusing a young child of racial discrimination is a new one for me. In this case, the plaintiff alleged that she was subjected to…
The timing last night was perfect. I just finished uploading the video from last Friday’s edition of The Employer Handbook Zoom Office Happy Hour: Cybersecurity 101 for Human Resources and Employment Lawyers to The Employer Handbook YouTube Channel, and I had shifted my attention to planning the next Zoom when…
I was skeptical whether readers of this blog — mostly HR professionals and attorneys — would register for this week’s edition of The Employer Handbook Zoom Office Happy Hour about … cybersecurity?!? You proved me wrong. A few hundred of you have already signed up. And there’s still time to…