The Employer Handbook

• newIt’s July 1. Happy Bobby Bonilla Day! ⚾💰⚾💰
  By Metsfan84, CC BY 3.0, Link Between us friends, tell me. What’s the biggest severance that you’ve ever paid to an underperforming employee? I ask this question because, today, the New York Mets are paying $1,193,248.20 to a former third baseman…
  - 8 hours ago, 1 Jul 20, 10:30am -
• newVLOG: Why I’m not eligible for FFCRA leave this summer, but you might be.
  Image by Annalise Batista from Pixabay Late last week, the U.S. Department of Labor issued this Field Assistance Bulletin. It addresses when employees can take Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) leave based on the closure of summer camps…
  - 1 day ago, 30 Jun 20, 10:30am -
• newPhilly is the first city to have that COVID-19 anti-retaliation whistleblower jawn.
  De Beyond My Ken – Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 4.0, Enlace And by ‘jawn,’ I mean just about anything. But here, specifically, Philadelphia has a new anti-retaliation whistleblower law. Juliana Feliciano Reyes writing here for the Philadelphia Inqu…
  - 2 days ago, 29 Jun 20, 10:30am -

Ohio Employer's Law Blog

• NBC News takes the unprecedented step to release its internal Matt Lauer harassment report
  Image by Max Goldberg via Wiki CommonsYesterday morning, NBC News released the complete report into its months long investigation of Matt Lauer.I was astounded by NBC’s transparency. It is extraordinarily rare for a private company…
  - 10 May 18, 11:21am -
• Sympathetic does not always equal protected under the ADA
  Photo by Pexels on PixabayToday’s opinion is a lesson straight out of the school of hard knocks. No matter how sympathetic the plaintiff or how harrowing his plights, the law is the law and sometimes it’s just not on his side.When…
  - 9 May 18, 11:34am -
• Should employers still test for marijuana?
  Photo by Michael Fischer from PexelsOhio’s medical marijuana program is set to be fully operational by September 2018. Ohio will join 28 other states, and the District of Columbia, in which doctors can legally prescribe marijuana to treat c…
  - 8 May 18, 11:49am -

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

• newWorking in Connecticut During a Pandemic: What Employers Need To Know Now
  We made it halfway through 2020. I know it FEELS as if it should be December, but just think how long March was! A lot has changed since the start of the pandemic.  But over the last few weeks, I’ve been hearing from employers wondering where thin…
  - 1 day ago, 30 Jun 20, 11:12am -
• Pick a Mask, Any Mask? Not So Fast, Says OSHA
  A few weeks ago, I did an inital post about how the new OSHA guidance on masks only served to complicate efforts for employers to comply with any such rules. This week, my colleague Alfredo Fernandez (with only a little help from me — byline notwit…
  - 5 days ago, 26 Jun 20, 2:21pm -
• New “Self-Quarantine” Order for Travelers Will Complicate Workplace Rules
  Is the pandemic over yet? Obviously, the answer is no.  While Connecticut’s numbers have diminished significantly, other states are continuing to spike. Thus, yesterday, Governor Lamont issued new Executive Order No. 7BBB mandating that visitors f…
  - 6 days ago, 25 Jun 20, 2:14pm -

FMLA Insights

• Can an Employee Take FMLA Leave During a Furlough?
  Sadly, too many of my telephone conversations with clients over the past few months have involved layoffs. Furloughs. Elimination of jobs. Of course, we’ve also discussed the great unknown of when some of these employees will be brought back to wor…
  - 28 days ago, 4 Jun 20, 6:08am -
• My FMLA Blog Turns 10 Today! A Look at the Best and Worst of the FMLA in 10 Years of Writing
  Today, my little FMLA blog turns 10 years old. Ten years ago, at a time when very few people knew what the heck a “blog” was, including me, I took a chance that HR and leave of absence professionals and attorneys might need some help answering th…
  - 37 days ago, 26 May 20, 5:35am -
• FFCRA FAQ: Must an Employee Enroll their Child in a Summer Program as a Precondition to Taking FFCRA Leave if the Program is Cancelled?
  Are you working from home during the pandemic? Me, too. Are you having trouble keeping your kids off Fortnite and Minecraft, and literally every other screen in your house? Me, too. Do you still love your children? Me, too. For the most part. But wit…
  - 40 days ago, 22 May 20, 1:55pm -

Labor Relations Today

• Can an Employee Take FMLA Leave During a Furlough?
  Sadly, too many of my telephone conversations with clients over the past few months have involved layoffs. Furloughs. Elimination of jobs. Of course, we’ve also discussed the great unknown of when some of these employees will be brought back to wor…
  - 28 days ago, 4 Jun 20, 6:08am -
• My FMLA Blog Turns 10 Today! A Look at the Best and Worst of the FMLA in 10 Years of Writing
  Today, my little FMLA blog turns 10 years old. Ten years ago, at a time when very few people knew what the heck a “blog” was, including me, I took a chance that HR and leave of absence professionals and attorneys might need some help answering th…
  - 37 days ago, 26 May 20, 5:35am -
• FFCRA FAQ: Must an Employee Enroll their Child in a Summer Program as a Precondition to Taking FFCRA Leave if the Program is Cancelled?
  Are you working from home during the pandemic? Me, too. Are you having trouble keeping your kids off Fortnite and Minecraft, and literally every other screen in your house? Me, too. Do you still love your children? Me, too. For the most part. But wit…
  - 40 days ago, 22 May 20, 1:55pm -

Employment and Labor Insider

Delaware Employment Blog

Lawffice Space

• EEOC to employers: Don't use anti-body testing for return to work
  The EEOC has once again updated its guidance on What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws. This time, it just added one new question on anti-body testing, with a particularly clear answer:Not official…
  - 13 days ago, 18 Jun 20, 1:50pm -
• SCOTUS: Title VII prohibits sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination
  Yesterday, the Supreme Court decided Bostock v. Clayton County - the Supreme Court website has been having trouble, so this is a link to SCOTUSblog (which excluded the appendices to make the file smaller). The Court consolidated Bostock and a couple…
  - 15 days ago, 16 Jun 20, 12:56pm -
• Lawffice Links: COVID-19 guidance still trickling in
  The guidance just keeps comin' folks:EEOC updated What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws - New Q&A on pregnancy, age discrimination, accommodations, and more; DOL OSHA FAQs on face coverings;Joint…
  - 16 days ago, 15 Jun 20, 12:47pm -