The Family and Medical Leave Act allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period for, among other reasons, to care for a parent with a serious health condition.

Most FMLA serious health conditions are plainly obvious: Cancer, HIV, dementia. But, then again…

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iPhone voice memo

Remember last month when I told you to short crude oil futures and bet the Broncos to win the Super Bowl about how the National Labor Relations Board concluded that an employer could not maintain a workplace rule that banned employees from recording workplace conversations, absent prior company approval. (More on that here).

Well, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, before you get any bright ideas about secretly recording your boss, you’d better think twice.

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Busch Gardens Williamsburg Main Gate.jpgIf you take leave Family and Medical Leave Act, go on vacation, and post your pictures on Facebook, the odds are that your employer is going to find out about it. Why? Because your co-workers, the ones you friended on Facebook, but who really aren’t your friends, are going to snitch on you faster the Road Runner on Wile E’s Acme Rocket Skates.

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US-EEOC-Seal

If you’ve ever had to address a Charging Party’s EEOC Charge of Discrimination, you know that drafting a good Position Statement, in which the specific claims of discrimination are addressed and supported with documents and facts is hella-key.

This especially holds true now that the EEOC has announced new nationwide procedures that provide for the release of a company’s Position Statement and non-confidential attachments to a Charging Party or representative upon request during the investigation of a charge of discrimination.

So, how do you draft a Position Statement that makes the EEOC like, and the Charging Party like?

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Eeoc logo2

Yesterday, the EEOC released its FY2015 Enforcement and Litigation Data. Consistent with prior years, claims of retaliation continue to dominate (44.5% of all claims filed with the EEOC). Race is second (34.7%). But, it’s disability discrimination — up a whopping 6% from 2014 — that should have your attention.

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Money

On February 9, over 100 members of Congress signed this letter to Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez to voice their opposition to the new proposed overtime rules, which could go into effect in July.  I only have an electronic version of the letter. But, it looks like it was signed in high-quality ink, and printed on really nice bonded letterhead. Except, you know that “not worth the paper it’s printed on” expression…

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