On June 19, 2015, in Texas v. Naylor, et al., Case No. 11-0114, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the State of Texas could not intervene to prevent the divorce of a same-sex couple legally married in Massachusetts. However, the ruling was decided on […]
Numerous states have authorized the use of medicinal marijuana. Several others have even permitted limited recreational use. How does this movement coincide with an employer's "zero tolerance" policy of prohibiting drug use, whether during or after […]
What is a “religious belief”? Can an employer question the sincerity of an employee’s alleged religious beliefs? The U.S. Supreme Court previously defined "religious belief" as a belief that is "religious" in the employee’s own scheme of things […]
The Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) entitles eligible employees unpaid, job-protected leave to care for a child, parent, or spouse. In light of recent Supreme Court decisions addressing same-sex marriages, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) […]
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) governs federal minimum wage and overtime pay. Currently, employees covered by the FLSA must be paid at least the federal minimum wage, and in most cases, overtime for all hours worked in excess of 40 in any work […]
Today, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in favor of Samantha Elauf, a Muslim woman who was 17 years old when she was turned down for a job at Abercrombie & Fitch because she wore a hijab. Ms. Elauf was not hired because her headscarf violated […]
After an employee submits a charge complaining of discrimination, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) investigates the matter and gathers evidence regarding the claims in question. If the EEOC determines that “reasonable cause” […]
Funding employee cell phones costs companies thousands of dollars each year. As a result, a company may decide that the cost is too great. However, before making the decision of whether to provide cell phones to employees, a company should take into […]
On May 6th, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") announced the launch of a pilot program called ACT Digital in 11 of its 53 offices, which allows for the digital transmission of documents between the EEOC and employers regarding […]
As previously reported in an earlier blog post, retailers are under attack in a wave of class actions alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The allegations are essentially the same in all of these suits: that the employer failed to […]
A prior blog post on this site addressed the issue of making sure your company's wellness program complied with EEOC and ADA restrictions on obtaining health and medical information regarding your employees. Since that post, the EEOC has now recently […]
In late March, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Young v UPS, determining that UPS may have failed to accommodate a pregnant employee's request for light duty work. Young worked for UPS as a driver, a position that required her to lift up […]