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The Employer Handbook BlogNew Senate bill would abolish non-competes for low-wage workers
Jimmy John’s aside, is that really a thing? The use of non-compete agreements for employees making less than $15 an hour? Continue reading
From Caitlyn Jenner to new OSHA guidance on restroom access for transgender workers
Caitlyn Jenner got the cover of Vanity Fair and a million new Twitter followers shortly after confirming that she was no longer Bruce Jenner. So, by riding that wave with a timely blog post, I should at least get page 5 — above the fold — in the latest edition of “Employment-Law Blog Hunks,” the one you all read for the articles.
(Actually, I will be on Knowledge@Wharton’s daily show on SiriusXM channel 111 – Business Radio Powered by The Wharton School today from 10-12 EDT, as a follow-up to yesterday’s post, discussing Monday’s Supreme Court decision in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc.)
Now, before my ego explodes like a baseball off of Giancarlo Stanton’s bat, let’s revisit the issue of transgender employees and restroom access. Continue reading
As the Supreme Court toughens religious-accommodation rules, 5 ways employers can avoid trouble.
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, ruled that an employer that does not know that a job applicant may need a religious accommodation can discriminate against that job applicant. All that matters are the employer’s motivations.
Allow me to explain. Continue reading
This employer had a “no pregnancy in the workplace” policy. No, really. It did.
Holy crap. Literally.
A Texas church is now about $75,000 lighter in the wallet after a federal judge determined that having and enforcing a “no pregnancy in the workplace policy,” which prohibited the continued employment of any employee who became pregnant, violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That’s the law that prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy. Yeah, it says it right there.
Here’s more on the decision from the EEOC’s press release.
We’ve got a date, you and me, for a lunchtime wage and hour webcast
I’ll even treat. Ok, it’s free.
Seriously, if you don’t yet have plans today for lunch (or, for you in the West, breakfast, or whatever it is you do out there at 9 am), register here for a free SHRM webcast entitled “FLSA: Stay Safe Now and in the Future.”
It’ll be Wage and Hour 101, a great offering for HR generalists and others who need to learn (or brush up on) the FLSA basics, and don’t mind being lectured by a blogging employment lawyer in his mismatched socks and pajamas. In this webcast, you’ll learn best practices for employee classification, wage and hour compliance, and recordkeeping. You’ll also get advice for conducting self-audits of your company’s practices and what to expect from the Department of Labor when regulations are issued.
Those without Facebook accounts need not apply. Well, maybe not in one state.
Forcing job applicants to disclose social media logins and passwords as a condition of employment is so 2013 — kinda like this crappy blog. So, the State of Oregon is this close to becoming the first state to expand its social media workplace privacy law to forbid employers from requiring their employees or job applicants to have personal social media accounts as a condition of employment.
You can read a copy of the bill here.
So far, the bill has made it through both the House and Senate without a single “nay.” And, Mark Zuckerberg plans to buy Oregon, rename it “Gotcha, Zucka!” and secede from the Union the Governor plans to sign the bill. The new law would only impact social media accounts used exclusively for personal purposes unrelated to any business purpose of the employer or prospective employer and that is not provided by or paid for by the employer or prospective employer.
I understand the good intentions of the bill. Work is work; personal is personal and worlds don’t have to collide. But, consider two points: Continue reading
100,000 reasons to take all forms of discrimination seriously
And, that includes discrimination against bronies men.
Because remember my January post about the EEOC suing Ruby Tuesday, alleging that the restaurant chain discriminated against male employees for temporary assignments? Welp, that case just settled for $100K!
But, wait! There’s more… Continue reading
Just how nervous should companies be about FLSA lawsuits over employee smartphone use? (Hint: very)
“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.”
(I’m pretty sure that was from Ferris Bueller)
Yesterday, in the Wall Street Journal, I read Lauren Weber’s article “Can You Sue the Boss for Making You Answer Late-Night Email?” And the answer is yes, provided that you are a non-exempt employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the time you spend answering that email is more than a few minutes a week. It’s no different than when an employee checks company email at work. Work is work. Employees get paid to work. Continue reading
The May ’15 edition of The Employment Law Blog Carnival is LIVE #ELBC
Yesterday was interesting.
- I discovered what it’s like to use a coffee shop (with free wifi) as a law office. I even converted the empty table next to me into my conference room. I made silent vow to myself never to do that again.
- I learned what “eponymous” means. It was not what I thought.