Tag: Employment law

Canada Ready to Roll: Marijuana Becomes Legal in October

Canada’s Cannabis Act—making recreational marijuana legal—will take effect on October 17, 2018. The country’s federal parliament passed the measure on June 19, 2018, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quickly announced the new law’s effective date. Medically prescribed marijuana had previously been legalized.

A Refresher Course on FMLA Return-to-Work

In my opinion, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) remains one of the most (if not the most) difficult employment laws to administer. The federal regulations are lengthy and detail-oriented, setting forth various compliance deadlines, rules, and (of course) exceptions.

NLRB’s New Guidance Loosens Reigns on Handbooks

Earlier this year, we predicted that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would be “loosening the reins on employer handbook rules.” We can finally tell you exactly how much the reins have been loosened because the NLRB’s General Counsel has outlined the standards the Board will follow when assessing employers’ personnel policies. Overall, you will […]

monitor

How to Balance the Need for Surveillance Against Protected Activity?

We see it all the time on the news, on our social media websites, and in everyday life: video footage from someone’s cell phone capturing a moment, whether it’s a viral sensation or a mundane video of a cat napping. And sure enough, cellphone recordings happen in the workplace, too. Sometimes cellphone usage is acceptable […]

Defamation Claims: Stormy Days and Muddy Waters

Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, is suing a sitting U.S. president for defamation. She claims she had a brief affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and was paid to keep quiet about it on the eve of the 2016 election. President Trump tweeted his thoughts about her credibility, and the defamation lawsuit followed. Roy […]

The First Amendment and Burping

At the beginning of one episode of The Simpsons, Bart is seen writing “The First Amendment does not cover burping” on the blackboard. Although the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law abridging” freedom of speech, more than two centuries of practical application have taught us that even the […]

Vaccine

Belief That Vaccines Are Harmful Does Not Equal Religious Belief

The antivaccination movement has been gaining traction in the United States for several years, much to the chagrin of safety-minded employers. While businesses offer ever-broader benefits to limit the business impact of nationwide pandemics, including on-site flu clinics, many employees refuse to participate and lower the efficacy of vaccinations for those who do.