The Employer Handbook

• newSorry, Busta Rhymes. You don’t get a “celebrity exception” for settling your wage-and-hour claim
  By Mikamote [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia CommonsGenerally, if a wage and hour dispute arises in the workplace, the parties need approval from either the U.S. Department of Labor or a federal court to resolve claims under the Fair Labor Standards Ac…
  - 8 hours ago, 21 May 18, 10:30am -
• Another court holds mistaken discrimination is unmistakably illegal
  By Ethan [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia CommonsBack when the WWE was the WWF, there was a tag team that were the heels of professional wrestling: The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Goddammit! Like three-quarters of you have already clicked away. T…
  - 3 days ago, 18 May 18, 10:30am -
• Fore-get it! Court slices plaintiff’s FMLA claim based on Facebook pics of him at a golf course
  Santeri Viinamäki [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia CommonsAlthough, the Facebook photo of the plaintiff captioned “Tubing the Rifle River” didn’t help his chances either. Neither did lying about sleeping at work despite photographic evidence to…
  - 4 days ago, 17 May 18, 11:15am -

Ohio Employer's Law Blog

• GDPR: Email Marketing Compliance Update and FAQs
  As you are no doubt aware, the EU’s GDPR regulations come into force May 25th. These are a big deal, and affect every online web site, regardless of whether the site or the business it serves is in Europe. A great way to think about GDPR is that it…
  - 7 days ago, 14 May 18, 5:46pm -
• 4 Tags to Help You Send Better Emails
    On a regular old Tuesday afternoon, two emails show up in Drew’s inbox, both from a software developer, and both to deliver an update on a popular graphic design tool. The first email, sent to an entire email list, starts off:     The second e…
  - 83 days ago, 27 Feb 18, 2:53pm -
• Grow Your Sales Using Facebook Lookalike Audiences
  Let’s talk about your ideal subscriber. We’ll call her Sally. She has all the traits of a real top performer when it comes to your mailing lists. She opens nearly every email, clicks your links  regularly, offers feedback when requested, and has…
  - 28 Nov 17, 2:54pm -

The Employer's Lawyer

• When Rhetoric Comes to Town
  By now, if you haven’t heard about Donald Trump’s statements on Muslims and his plan to prevent Muslims from entering the country, as well as the vehement support he is receiving from an astonishing number of people, you may be living under a roc…
  - 9 Dec 15, 7:44pm -
• Beware the FMLA Equitable Estoppel Claim
  Imagine that your company has 40 employees, one of whom is subject to hospitalization for a medical condition and requires surgery. He is out of work for several weeks and in his absence, the company realizes that it gets along fine without him. As a…
  - 10 Nov 15, 2:23pm -
• Don’t Bet on the Jury Verdict
  As some of those who follow me on Twitter know, I had jury duty in September. Like most people, it wasn’t something I was looking forward to (and I even tried to get out of it on the basis that no one would pick a lawyer for a jury). Well, it turn…
  - 5 Nov 15, 2:55pm -

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

• newBREAKING: In “Epic” Decision, Supreme Court Approves of Employer Use of Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements
  In an important 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court this morning held, for the first time, that class or collective action waivers, particularly in wage/hour cases, and contained in arbitration agreements between employers and employees are valid an…
  - 4 hours ago, 21 May 18, 2:42pm -
• newDoes Profanity at Work Create a Hostile Work Environment? (Maybe.)
  Over the last several months, I’ve been asked to do far more sexual harassment prevention trainings than typical and the issue of profanity in the workplace has popped up. No doubt that much of this is due to the recent spate of cases of very publi…
  - 7 hours ago, 21 May 18, 11:12am -
• Remember to Listen to the Voices of Those Trying to Speak Up
  Last night, I had the honor of being elected as Chair of the James W. Cooper Fellows Program of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, after serving for a year as Vice-Chair and Chairperson of the Fellows Education & Program Committee. The Fellows are compr…
  - 10 days ago, 11 May 18, 1:23pm -

FMLA Insights

• Next Time Your Employee Requests FMLA Leave, Choose Sincerity with a Touch of Empathy
  When it comes to administering FMLA, I’ll admit — I have grown cynical and hardened. Like a doctor who becomes desensitized to blood and guts, I, too, have become desensitized to an employee’s antics while on FMLA leave. Taking FMLA leave for a…
  - 12 days ago, 10 May 18, 6:12am -
• DOL Issues Opinion Letter Allowing Employers to Avoid Payment for Excessive 15-Minute FMLA Breaks; Employers Yawn
  Last June, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it would again issue opinion letters to assist employers and employees in interpreting laws like the FMLA and Fair Labor Standards Act.  It was a welcome change as far as the employer community…
  - 36 days ago, 16 Apr 18, 6:01am -
• Your Employee Is Absent More Often Than Indicated on his FMLA Medical Certification. Now What?
  A week doesn’t go by without a client asking me whether they can discipline an employee for exceeding the number of absences allowed on their FMLA medical certification. The fact pattern usually goes something like this: Johnny is an assemblyman at…
  - 53 days ago, 29 Mar 18, 8:54am -

Labor Relations Today

• Next Time Your Employee Requests FMLA Leave, Choose Sincerity with a Touch of Empathy
  When it comes to administering FMLA, I’ll admit — I have grown cynical and hardened. Like a doctor who becomes desensitized to blood and guts, I, too, have become desensitized to an employee’s antics while on FMLA leave. Taking FMLA leave for a…
  - 12 days ago, 10 May 18, 6:12am -
• DOL Issues Opinion Letter Allowing Employers to Avoid Payment for Excessive 15-Minute FMLA Breaks; Employers Yawn
  Last June, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it would again issue opinion letters to assist employers and employees in interpreting laws like the FMLA and Fair Labor Standards Act.  It was a welcome change as far as the employer community…
  - 36 days ago, 16 Apr 18, 6:01am -
• Your Employee Is Absent More Often Than Indicated on his FMLA Medical Certification. Now What?
  A week doesn’t go by without a client asking me whether they can discipline an employee for exceeding the number of absences allowed on their FMLA medical certification. The fact pattern usually goes something like this: Johnny is an assemblyman at…
  - 53 days ago, 29 Mar 18, 8:54am -

Employment and Labor Insider

Delaware Employment Blog

Lawffice Space

• newCan employers pay exempt employees an hourly wage for extra hours?
  The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay employees an overtime premium (time-and-a-half) for hours over 40 worked in a workweek. Of course, there are a ton of exemptions. Generally, the exemptions depend on the employee's…
  - 5 hours ago, 21 May 18, 1:19pm -
• Liquidated Damages in Pennsylvania Wage Cases
  The Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL) provides some nice perks for employees who successfully sue for unpaid wages. For example, successful plaintiffs receive mandatory attorneys fees.The WPCL also has a liquidated damages provision…
  - 3 days ago, 18 May 18, 1:17pm -
• PA Commonwealth Court: Security consultant was employee, not independent contractor
  As longtime readers know, independent contractor versus employee classification is one of my favorite issues. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently added a new unemployment compensation case to the mix: HPM Consulting v. UCBR.These cases are o…
  - 19 days ago, 2 May 18, 1:01pm -

Employment Law Navigator

• Thanks, and so long…
  After 3 great years, the Employment Law Navigator is coming to an end. We’ve had fun, and we hope our posts have been helpful. Our sincere thanks to our contributors and to Zelle’s superb Marketing Director Dan Gruber, who picked our art, caug…
  - 28 Jul 17, 6:38pm -
• That is SO last week
  Last week, HR Dive reported on a Washington federal court’s June order requiring that a public employer pay $1.8 million to a terminated employee.  The worker was fired when she failed a drug test due to her lawful use of prescription drugs, test…
  - 24 Jul 17, 7:29pm -
• That Critical First Response to Harassment Complaints: Stage 2
  Last week, we wroteabout the importance of “first responders” who receive complaints of workplace harassment, and provided tips on how they should prepare for and react to complaints.  This week, we continue to focus on the early stages of the c…
  - 20 Jul 17, 5:43pm -