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Within the past year, the rights of pregnant workers have considerably increased within the workplace. The expansion started with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”), which President Biden signed into law in late 2022. The PWFA took effect in June 2023. The PWFA requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees. Additionally, the Consolidated …
Continue reading “A New Era of Maternity Rights: Understanding the PWFA and the PUMP Act”
In today’s world, countless individuals suffer from anxiety in its various forms. According to the World Health Organization, in 2019, 301 million people in the world had an anxiety disorder, which makes anxiety disorders “the most common of all mental disorders.”[1] But is “anxiety” a “disability” in a legal sense? Is someone with “anxiety” entitled …
Continue reading “The Difficulty of Defining a Disability—Anxiety”
On October 20, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released a new workplace poster titled: “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal.” According to the EEOC, covered employers* must post this poster within the workplace going forward. Those who do not comply may be subject to fines for noncompliance. The law currently requires covered …
Continue reading “Employers – Post the New EEOC Poster in Your Workplace (It is REQUIRED)”
Pay transparency and pay equity legislation is coming to the forefront across North America, and corporate policies concerning those topics, irrespective of legislative action, will be important due to the tight labour market caused by the pandemic and the retirement of the Boomer generation. Here is a primer on pay transparency and equity developments in …
Continue reading “PAY TRANSPARENCY AND PAY EQUITY IN ONTARIO”
Primary, secondary, and higher education institutions employ over 11 million people nationwide and provide educational services to many more students. At a national level, more than 8 million people are employed by primary and secondary schools. (See Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2021.) Another over 3 million people are employed by colleges and universities in …
On July 28, 2022, in a 5-2 opinion, the Michigan Supreme Court held that the prohibition of discrimination “because of… sex” in the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (“ELCRA”) includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Rouch World LLC v Department of Civil Rights, No. 162482, July 28, 2022. Background There are two sets of background …
The headlines are everywhere. Take The Guardian, for example, which recently published an article titled “Booming US cannabis industry seen as fertile ground for union expansion.” (Michael Sainato, The Guardian, July 31, 2022.) The piece touts the growth in the cannabis industry, noting that the sector grossed between $17.5 billion and $21.3 billion in revenue …
On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court released Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. In our Reproductive Healthcare Issues for Employers series, we have discussed the impact of the Dobbs decision on abortion services as a non-taxable benefit under certain types of group health programs (Part 1), abortion-related …
Employers who wish to arbitrate disputes with their employees should assert the right to arbitrate promptly—a recent Supreme Court decision has made it easier for employees to show that an employer’s delay constitutes a waiver of the right to arbitrate. In Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., 142 S.Ct. 1708 (2022), the plaintiff worked as an hourly …
Texas is booming. As of 2022, Texas had 89,600 more jobs than it did before the onset of the pandemic. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate steadily declined from 5% in October 2021 to 4.4 % in March 2022. Texas has always touted itself as an employer-friendly state, with the Texas Economic Department advertising …