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With two COVID-19 vaccines set to receive federal approval in the United States in the upcoming weeks, the next question is whether employers can make employees receive the vaccine. The short answer is…yes. And while the typical lawyer answer to any question is “it depends,” that concise “yes” does come with a few caveats. So, …
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Over the years, there has been a lot of news stories about people traveling (or seeking to travel) with interesting animals. There was the incident involving a “beloved pet hamster” that was flushed down a toilet after Sprit Airlines refused to let a passenger bring the pet on a flight as an emotional support animal. …
Continue reading “Airlines to Soon Ban Emotional Support Animals on Flights”
Even though it happens every four-years, it still tends to dominate the media, culture, and watercooler. We are, of course, talking about the presidential election. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, but citizens have been voting in some states since late September. As the airwaves become inundated with political ads, telephones get overwhelmed with robocalls, …
Continue reading “Election Day Leave Policies – What Employers Need to Know Before November 3”
On August 3, 2020, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it will resume issuing charge closure documents. The EEOC had suspended issuing charge closure documents on March 21, 2020 due to the pandemic, unless a charging party requested closing charge documents be issued. Although the EEOC has continued to investigate cases, …
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On Wednesday, May 20, 2020, Jeff Beemer and I conducted a webinar of the same title as this blog, which you can register to access here. In that webinar, we discussed the top concerns employers face as they seek to re-open their businesses under the relaxed stay-at-home orders and re-up their workforces. This blog will …
Continue reading “What Employers Can Expect When Re-Opening Amidst COVID-19”
In Kenney v. Helix TCS, Inc. No. 18-1105 (10th Cir. Sept. 20, 2019), the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals held that employers in the cannabis industry must abide by the wage/hour requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) despite that cannabis remains federally prohibited as a Schedule 1 controlled substance under the Controlled Substances …
Continue reading “Federal Court Holds Cannabis Businesses are Subject to Federal Wage Laws”
30 FAQs about the New Rule The Department of Labor (“DOL”) unveiled the final version of its overtime exemption rule (the “Rule”), which sets the annual salary threshold for exempt employees to qualify for the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) white-collar exemptions at $35,568 per year or $684 a week, an increase from the current …
The patchwork of state employment laws just got a few more patches. On July 12th and August 12th (Senate Bill S6577), Governor Cuomo signed two employment-focused laws that added a number of updates to the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL). The first law, which took effect on July 12 on signature by the …
Employment law is constantly evolving and changing to keep up with the evolving workforce and work-related issues. For example, in the last year, we have seen a changing landscape focused on gender bias and discrimination with the Me Too and Times Up movements. While we will continue to see claims, charges, and lawsuits related to …
For those keeping track, there are a number of different (yet somewhat similar) tests agencies and courts use to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. For example, there is the Right-to-Control Test that the Internal Revenue Service uses for federal tax purposes, which is not to be confused with the …