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On January 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued six opinion letters addressing a range of FMLA and FLSA issues. This post – part two of a three-part series – focuses on two FLSA letters that address problems employers often assume they have already resolved.

One letter deals with exempt classifications that appear sound based on job duties but unravel because of how the employee is paid. The other addresses bonus programs that feel discretionary until overtime calculations say otherwise. Continue reading

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Two different HR questions triggered two formal FMLA opinion letters this week – and both answers will feel uncomfortably familiar to the employers they affect.

On January 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued six new opinion letters in total, addressing a mix of FMLA and FLSA issues. One addresses a routine leave-administration issue faced by virtually all employers; the other zeroes in on a recurring leave-accounting problem unique to school employers. This post covers the two FMLA letters and kicks off a three-part series unpacking what employers should take from the full batch. Neither answer here is surprising. Both are easy to get wrong. Continue reading

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At a moment when federal agencies are actively dismantling disparate impact enforcement as a policy matter, New Jersey just went in the opposite direction – loudly, deliberately, and in writing.

Last month, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights finalized new rules that spell out how disparate impact claims work under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination in the employment context. These rules do not create new liability. What they do is remove any remaining ambiguity about how neutral workplace policies will be judged under state law. Continue reading

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Before the champagne pops and the Slack notifications finally stop, it’s worth pausing to reflect on what actually defined the workplace this year.

Not the initiatives.
Not the slogans.
The refrains.

Some of these are healthy habits. Others are the phrases that tend to show up right before problems do.

Here’s what kept ending up on repeat in 2025. Continue reading

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Safety policies should protect workplaces, not produce eight-figure ADA exposure. This case shows how a rigid medical rule, applied without individualized assessment, can turn a routine injury into a litigation disaster.

TL;DR: A jury found that an employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Oregon disability law by enforcing a blanket medical policy that unlawfully screened out an employee instead of evaluating his actual abilities. The jury issued an advisory award that included $25 million in punitive damages, and the court declined to disturb the verdict.

📄 Read the court’s decision

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A Helpful Guide for People About to Hit “Send” Anyway

Despite decades of evidence, some professionals continue to believe Christmas Eve is an appropriate time to introduce new thoughts into the workplace. It is not.

For those who remain uncertain, what follows is a non-exhaustive list of email subject lines that function as a legally binding confession: I should not be sending this today. Continue reading

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Sometimes retaliation isn’t loud. There’s no demotion, no firing, no pay cut. It shows up quietly instead – more work than everyone else gets, repeated just often enough to send a message.

That kind of retaliation can be harder to spot, but as a recent decision out of the District of Columbia shows, it can still land an employer in serious trouble. Continue reading

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