Last month, employers received a little more help from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in formulating social media policies that pass muster under scrutiny from the Board. On October 19, 2012, the Associate General Counsel (AGC) for the NLRB’s Division of Advice provided a useful and well organized opinion in response to a request
Title VII and ADA can apply in employment situations involving domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
Neither Title VII of the Civil Rights Act nor the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) specifically prohibits discrimination against individuals who may be victims of domestic or dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. However, a recent fact sheet/guidance issued by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) has employers scrambling to update anti-discrimination training to reflect
Employer’s permanent modification of payroll workweek in order to eliminate OT is OK under the FLSA.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal has determined that an employer’s permanent modification of employees’ “workweeks” in a way that reduced the number of overtime hours did not violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Abshire v. Redland Energy Services, IIC, 8th Cir., No. 11-3380, October 10, 2012.
The FLSA states that workers who
NLRB is finding ways to implement its Employee Rights Notice posting, in spite of legal challenges.
On September 28, 2012, a three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) affirmed the decision of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who upheld a car dealership’s firing of a salesperson that was based on a Facebook posting. But it also found a way to include its Notice of Employee Rights poster in the
Employee’s request to move from rotating shift to straight shift not a “reasonable accommodation” under the ADA.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed an issue of concern frequently raised by employers: whether allowing an employee to move from rotating shifts to straight daytime work is a required “reasonable accommodation” under the ADA. Kallail v. Alliant Energy Corporate Services, Inc., 8th Cir., No. 11-2202, September 4, 2012. In that case
Definition of “concerted activity” continues to be construed broadly by the NLRB.
Recently, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a number of decisions restricting the ways in which employers can limit employee electronic communications, even when those communications may damage the company or another employee’s reputation. For many employers, those decisions have caused serious consternation, as companies now focus on what can and cannot
An indefinite exemption from the essential functions of a job is not a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.
An issue that confounds employers on a regular basis is whether the discharge of an employee who is unable to return to work after a medical leave will violate the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). Most employers understand their obligation to engage in an interactive process to determine a reasonable accommodation that will assist
Employer’s request for psychological counseling as criteria to continued employment is viewed as a “medical examination” under the ADA.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employers from requiring a “medical examination” and from making inquiries about the nature or severity of an employee’s possible disability, unless such exam or inquiry is shown to be “job-related and consistent with business necessity.” Most employers understand this issue as it applies both to medical examinations of
FMLA does not prohibit termination of employee who abuses leave.
The FMLA permits eligible employees to take up to 12 workweeks of leave during a 12-month period if a “serious health condition . . . makes the employee unable to perform the functions of [his or her] position.” Employers are prohibited from interfering with qualified employees’ benefits or leave under the FMLA. However, the 3d
Employers must be able to recognize a Weingarten request in order to avoid liability under the NLRA.
Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) makes it illegal for an employer to interfere with or restrain employees from exercising the rights accorded to them under that Act. In NLRB v. J. Weingarten, 420 U.S. 251 (1975), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the NLRA “guarantees an employee’s right to the presence