Category: HR Management & Compliance

There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.

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DOJ Updates Its Corporate Compliance Programs Guidance

On September 23, 2024, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released revised Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs guidance, last updated in March 2023. The latest guidance covers three primary areas of on-going interest for the DOJ: (1) how companies are identifying and mitigating emerging risks related to new technologies, including artificial […]

Pay Attention to Recent New York Employment Law Developments

Employers in New York, and across the country, should be aware that a number of recent workplace law legislative developments are now in effect. New York State Freelance Isn’t Free Act Now in Effect New York state’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act went into effect on August 28, 2024, and requires every New York state business […]

Ask the Expert: Are There Exceptions to State Meal Break Requirements?

Question: Are there any exceptions to meal and rest break requirements, and are there meal penalties for not allowing staff to take proper breaks? Can we allow employees to waive their meal breaks if they work six hours instead of eight? Answer: This question is mainly controlled by state law. Federal law, for its part, […]

Coach Fouls Out On Retaliation Claim

Retaliation claims are very dangerous for Texas employers. This is why any advantage is very welcome. So, a case that came out in September from the federal appeals court covering Texas is welcome news. Coach Complains; Coach Removed Charles Julien worked as a teacher and basketball coach for a high school. Following a losing season […]

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Federal Law Requires Employers to Provide Pregnancy-Related Leave

We occasionally hear from clients asking if their employees have to be employed for 12 months and work 1,250 hours to qualify for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) or if they qualify as soon as they begin employment. The question appears to conflate aspects of the PWFA with a similar but distinct federal labor […]

Court Rejects Joint Employer Defense in Discrimination Case

A federal district court in Louisiana recently heard a case in which a governmental entity tried to assert that it wasn’t liable as a joint employer of the individual who had accused it of discrimination and retaliation. Read on to learn why the court sided with the employee and allowed the claims to proceed to […]

To Tell the Truth: Falsehood Dooms Lawsuit

The law requires that both sides to a lawsuit play fair. When that’s not the case, the side playing fast and loose with the rules gets punished. For a recent prime example, read on. Deposition Falsehood! After Daniel’la Deering was fired from her job as an in-house lawyer for Lockheed Martin, she sued for unlawful […]

SCOTUS Order Signals It May Invalidate Some EEOC Harassment Guidelines

In August, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an injunction to the Department of Education’s recently issued rule implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government. This order—coupled with its decision overruling Chevron deference—signals the […]

Employers Challenge Constitutionality of DOL Administrative Law Judges

When the Supreme Court decided SEC v. Jarkesy, it only decided one of the issues in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision. As we noted in “NLRB’s Administrative Law Judges Face Existential Challenges,” the 5th Circuit in Jarkesy also ruled that the Securities and Exchanges Commission’s (SEC) administrative law judges (ALJs) were unconstitutionally […]

Ask the Expert: Would It Be Noncompliant to Require Employees to Work Both the Day Before and the Day After a Holiday to Receive Holiday Pay?

Question: Would it be noncompliant to require employees to work both the day before and the day after a holiday to receive holiday pay? Also, would it break any pay laws not to provide holiday pay to an employee who calls out sick before a holiday? Answer: Although holiday pay is a common benefit employers provide, […]