The Modern Workplace
- Posts by Dorraine A. Larison
Senior CounselDorraine Larison concentrates her practice in the areas of bankruptcy law, debtor/creditor law, and employment law. She has extensive experience in the areas of commercial financing, creditors’ rights, and creditor ...
It’s that time of year again for holiday parties. Because many companies did not host holiday parties in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are now returning to in-person events, it’s time to brush up on the best practices for avoiding holiday-related legal claims.
Holiday parties are a wonderful opportunity for team building and increasing morale. However, there are potential legal issues associated with company holiday parties. The following are some of the legal issues to think about when planning a holiday party:
1. Religious Discrimination: Be careful not to ...
I was sitting by my window the other day and noticed how the sun was melting the snow around my house even though the air temperature was cold. For a person living in a northern climate, I see this as a sign of Spring and with it, the return to green grass, flowers, and warmer temps. It also reminds me that the semi-annual ritual of the changing of the clocks for those states that participate in Daylight Savings Time is upon us. Each Spring, we “Spring Ahead” by moving the clocks forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. on a designated date. Each Fall, when Daylight Savings Time ends, we “Fall ...
Many of you saw our Client Alert detailing the requirements of the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on November 4, 2021. The ETS applies to employers with 100 employees or more and contains COVID-19 vaccine and/or testing requirements that employers must adopt to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the workplace.
On November 12, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a ruling imposing a stay on enforcement of the ETS. The federal appellate court ordered OSHA to “take no ...
The new federal administration continues to put its stamp on the development and enforcement of wage and hour laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Recently, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a new Field Assistance Bulletin (Bulletin 2021), revoking a Trump administration policy relating to the practice of seeking liquidated damages in pre-litigation settlement discussions.
Employers who violate the FLSA provisions relating to minimum wage, overtime compensation, and protections for tipped employees, are liable for the unpaid wages or tips as well as an equal ...
New Test
The Final Rule implements a five-factor economic reality ...
- The minimum salary for executive, administrative and professional employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has increased from $455 to $684 per week ($35,568 per year).
- The annual compensation now required to meet the exemption under the FLSA for highly compensated employees has been raised to $107,432.
- Several states increased the state ...
- What to Do When You Shut Down Your Business Due to Inclement ...
The last quarter of the calendar year is often a time when companies are busy with planning and budgeting for the following year. Minnesota employers doing budget planning for 2018 need to keep in mind that the state minimum wage rates will be adjusted as of January 1, 2018.
As we previously reported, on November 22, 2016, a federal district court judge in Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction enjoining the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing and enforcing the new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime rules that were supposed to apply on December 1, 2016. The injunction essentially put the implementation of the new regulations on hold pending further litigation.
After the injunction ruling, the DOL appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals asking for an expedited appeal. The Fifth Circuit granted the DOLs request, but ...
Many employers round the time of arrival or departure for non-exempt employees to the nearest five minutes, tenth of an hour, or quarter of an hour. Many of those employers have rounded time for years without thinking about whether doing so is legal. Recently, a number of class action suits have been brought against employers based on their rounding practices. Those suits have highlighted the fact that, while the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does allow rounding of time, there are very specific requirements that must be met to do so.
The FLSA requires that employers pay their workers ...
As we let you know last week, legal challenges to the new federal overtime pay rules scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016, are pending in federal district court in Texas. On November 22, 2016, the Judge hearing the Texas cases issued a nationwide preliminary injunction enjoining the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing and enforcing the new rules. As such, employers who were busily preparing to comply with those rules have a reprieve at least for now- from having to comply.
In his decision, Texas Judge Mazzant concluded that the plaintiffs established a prima facie ...
In the decision, the NLRB concluded that the Whole Foods policy would reasonably be construed by ...
On February 23, 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced the final rule to revise the definition of spouse under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The changes to the FMLA regulations will take effect on March 27, 2015.
The changes to the rules are the result of last years U.S. Supreme Court decision, United States v. Windsor, overruling Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which defined marriage for purposes of federal law as being between one man and one woman. Consistent with Section 3 of the DOMA, the DOL has traditionally defined marriage for FMLA purposes as ...
Believe it or not, 2014 is drawing to a close and a new year is around the corner. As you prepare for 2015, here are some items on the U.S. Department of Labors regulatory agenda that you will want to track:
We've been on the look-out for proposed revisions to the Fair Labor Standard Acts (FLSA) white collar exemptions from overtime and minimum wage requirements since March of 2014. That was when President Obama issued a directive for the Labor Secretary to modernize and streamline the existing regulations and increase the minimum salary for the white collar exemptions. The Department of ...
I was sitting by a campfire last night and, although it was a beautiful night, I could not help but notice that there are signs of fall everywhere. The leaves are beginning to change, the evening air had a slight nip, and darkness arrived much earlier in the evening. These reminders of fall mean that, because of Minnesota's participation in Daylight Savings Time, we need to think about the semi-annual ritual of the changing of the clocks. Each spring we Spring Ahead by moving the clocks forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. on a designated date. Each fall, when Daylight Savings Time ends, we Fall ...
On August 1, 2014, Minnesota's new minimum wage law takes effect. The new law changes the states minimum wage requirements in several ways, including new definitions of large and small employers, progressively increasing rates over time, and indexing to inflation.
Minnesota sets its minimum wage based on the size of the employer as determined by gross sales. Under the new law, a large employer is one that has gross sales over $500,000 in annual business. Small employers are defined to have gross sales under $500,000 in annual business. Prior to the change, the gross sales ...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has recently issued an informal guidance on the issue of religious dress and grooming. The guidance comes in wake of several suits accusing employers of religious discrimination for refusing to accommodate certain types of religious dress or grooming.
I have not followed NFL football for many years, but the recent NFL report about the Miami Dolphins definitely caught my attention. The report, prepared for the NFL by a New York law firm, concluded that Richie Incognito and other Miami Dolphin players inappropriately bullied and harassed offensive lineman Jonathan Martin through improper physical touching and by persistently taunting him with sexually explicit remarks about his mother and sister, and racist and homophobic slurs. Martin abruptly left the Miami Dolphins in 2013.
Lawyers often say that bad facts lead to bad law. Cases with outrageous fact patterns can drive a judge or jury to stretch the law and make outcome-based decisions in order to provide relief to a sympathetic party. Lawyers hate these types of decisions, because they can negatively skew the developing law based on one bad situation without enough consideration being paid to the legal implications for other, future cases.
A couple of recent articles in the New York Times and The Atlantic magazine caught my attention. Although the articles are from very different perspectives, both articles made me think about dishonest employees and how employers deal with them.
As of July 1, 2013, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations Hours-of-Service Regulations relating to drivers of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) are changing. These changes require some significant advance planning for employers of those who drive a CMV.
Under Title VII, employers may be strictly liable for harassment by a supervisor. Employers may also be liable for harassment by a co-worker, but only if the company knew or should have known of the co-workers conduct and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action. A question that remained disputed until the Vance decision was who qualified as a ...
From an employment law standpoint, I think the more interesting question is: should a boss friend an employee? I decided to conduct an informal survey of my peers here at The Modern Workplace. I asked my colleagues if it was okay for a boss to friend an employee, and the resounding answer was NO. Why not? There are both legal and personal reasons why friending an employee, even if you do not ...
Anyone who picks up a newspaper knows that our world can be very violent, including domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Employers often see firsthand the impact of such violence on their employees. Most of the time, employers who learn that an employee is experiencing some form of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking will do what they can to help the employee manage the situation. Sometimes, however, employers of victims of violence react in a negative way. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has recently issued a guidance describing how the ...
The final rule, issued jointly by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety ...
Okay - technology has done some wonderful things for all of us, including giving us the ability to store lots and lots of information. But, do you really want to do that?
Many employers are looking at ways to be more efficient by using technology to gather and store information about employees and applicants. Employers store everything from names to social security numbers to discipline data on electronic systems.
You may say, well that's just being efficient. I'm all for efficiency, but employers need to be aware that they have to balance their need for information with the employees ...
Why do I start with a definition of the word Luddite? Quite simply, I'm probably at least in part a Luddite. I use technology every day; yet, I am reluctant to embrace much of the new technology. That may sound strange coming from a person who is writing on a blog about technology, but alas, it is true. Interestingly, every time I have been forced to use a new technology I have eventually embraced ...
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