The Employer Handbook Blog

The Employer Handbook is looking for a few quaaludes guest bloggers. If you think you have the chops to write a few hundred words on an employment-related topic of interest for businesses — especially those in PA, NJ, or DE — then

Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D-NY14] recently introduced H.R. 1440: Family and Medical Leave Enhancement Act of 2011 (FMLEA) in the House of Representatives. What is this new bill? And what will it mean for new employers if it passes? (Hint: It may have something to do with the picture on the…

Back on March 22, I reported that City Council would vote on the “Fair Criminal Screening Standards” bill, a measure that would forbid city employers from discriminating or retaliating against job candidates with criminal convictions. City Council has since approved the bill and Mayor Nutter has signed it. For more…

In an unpublished opinion, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied a Pennsylvania company’s attempt to enjoin a former employee, who had entered into several restrictive covenants with the company, to compete directly against the company and solicit its customers. What did this employer do wrong and how can you…

In New Jersey, a private employer may not fire an employee who objects to or refuses to participate in any activity that the employee reasonably believes is illegal or would endanger public health, safety, or welfare. This is codified in New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA). The typical CEPA…

What better way to celebrate the 100th blog post at https://www.theemployerhandbook.com than with booze, hookers, and penicillin shots an announcement that I will be contributing to HR and Social Media: Practical and Legal Guidance, a book available for sale this Summer from Thompson Publishing. I will be writing about the…

What happens when an employee claims to be a victim of discrimination or sexual harassment in the workplace, but fails to report the harassment to her employer? If the employer has a written anti-harassment policy, it should be able to satisfy its burden that the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage…

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Maryland Department of Corrections was facing heat from the ACLU for requiring job applicants to divulge their Facebook passwords. It seems that the DOC has listened (not to me, but to the ACLU). You can see the ACLU’s response, as well…

Thomson Reuters had such a bad week last week that I had to spread the news over two blog posts. Here is part one about how the National Labor Relations Board is set to file a complaint against Thomson Reuters for allegedly disciplining an employee who tweeted about labor/management relations. After the…

Did a bunch of bloggers sue you last week for wage and hour violations? Has the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) threatened to file a complaint against you for Twitter shenanigans? Well, that was Thomson Reuters’ week. And, as you can imagine, it sucked. I share their grief, after the…