As more states and localities legalize or decriminalize the use of recreational marijuana, the next logical step is to preclude employers from testing for marijuana use as a condition of employment.
Why? It comes does to dollars and cents. Or, perhaps, common sense. Continue reading
Fritz Saalfeld, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
First thing’s first. Today at from 12-1 PM ET, we’ve got The Employer Handbook Zoom Office Hour: Beverages and Benefits. My partners Mark Mathis, Bob Ellerbrock, and Amy Epstein Gluck will take a deep dive into the new U.S. Department of Labor guidance and model notices to support the new COBRA premium subsidy under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. There are a few spots left if you’re lucky, you can register for that here.
Image by Shafin Al Asad Protic from Pixabay
Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission confirmed that new COVID-19 vaccination incentive guidance would arrive soon. While we wait patiently for its arrival, yesterday, President Biden reminded employers with fewer than 500 employees that there’s already a paid leave tax credit for employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide full pay for any time their employees need to get a COVID-19 vaccination or recover from that vaccination. Continue reading
I’m filing today’s post under “FMLA: Back to Basics.” Continue reading
Image Credit: Photofunia.com
Since the EEOC last updated its “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws” resource document on December 16, 2020, it published proposed wellness rules only to walk them back less than a week later. So, several business groups wrote to the EEOC asking the big question: to what extent may employers offer employees incentives to get the COVID-19 vaccine without violating the Americans With Disabilities Act and other laws enforced by the EEOC.
It appears that we may get an answer soon. Continue reading
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Senate Democrats, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
“Equal Pay for Equal Work” has been the rallying cry in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA), which the House passed last week by a 217-210 vote.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2020, women earned 82 cents for every dollar men received. So, on paper, paying men and women the same wages for the same work — “paycheck fairness” — sounds, err, fair.
So, why has the PFA never reached the President’s desk in any of the past dozen attempts going back to 1997 that it’s been introduced in Congress? Let’s find out. Continue reading
Daniel Barcelona, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Did I ever tell you guys about the wacky race discrimination case I defended involving a male fast-food franchise employee caught on video smacking a female co-worker? Continue reading
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Nicolas Ettlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
You (soft) served up one pun too many, Eric.
Geez! I might have blown my chance at drafting press releases for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Then again, anything is popsicle when you’re the cream of the crop.
Image by Mudassar Iqbal from Pixabay
And it’s not at all what you think. Continue reading
Chrisdesign, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
I’m going to tell you about a Family and Medical Leave Act lawsuit that, IMHO, could have easily been avoided. Continue reading
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