Tag: Employment law

Ask the Expert: When Do Employees Qualify for Pregnancy Accommodations?

Question: Do employees have to be employed for 12 months or work 1,250 hours to qualify for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), or do they qualify as soon as they begin employment? Answer: The PWFA applies to employees as soon as they begin employment, and it also applies to applicants. Under the federal PWFA, […]

Religious accommodations: Where do we stand?

Last summer, in Groff v. DeJoy, the U.S. Supreme Court upended the analysis used to determine whether and how employers must accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs. In the year since, there have been some applications of Groff’s reasoning in lower court cases, and here are some takeaways you can apply when working through an employee’s […]

Court Ruling May Necessitate Overhaul of Paid Sick Time Policies and Practices

The Arizona Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act requires all employers to provide a certain amount of paid sick time (PST) depending on the number of employees. Employers with at least 15 employees must provide at least 40 hours of PST to employees each year. The act also requires employers to follow certain notice requirements, […]

Go for Bronze! Insights into Career Goals and Job Satisfaction

HR professionals are called upon to perform a variety of tasks, one of which is to counsel employees (and perhaps themselves) on performance metrics and career goals. So, along with sporadic watching of this year’s Olympics in Paris, I read with interest an insightful article by Derek Sivers titled “Think Like a Bronze Medalist, Not […]

Ask the Expert: Can Positive Drug Tests Be Cause for Termination?

Question: If we have a drug-free workplace policy and implement random testing, can we fire an employee who tests positive even if the employee simply used marijuana outside the workplace and wasn’t impaired? Answer: The short answer is yes. Employers in Wisconsin specifically are allowed to conduct random drug testing of their employees. If an […]

9th Circuit Rules Private Texts Aren’t Protected Speech

One of the nightmares of HR professionals is to be told about a workplace problem “privately as a friend.” Whether something is an informal chat between friends or public notice of a problem is very hard to determine. That was essentially the question in deciding whether a Rancho Cordova sheriff was engaging in protected speech […]

Case Study: New Hampshire Legislature Passes Law Allowing Firearms in Employees’ Vehicles

Although the debate between those wanting to protect the right to possess firearms and those who advocate for stricter gun control is often thought of as a federal issue, gun laws are often a function of state and local laws. We draw your attention to this important issue because the New Hampshire House and Senate […]

Hospital Authorities Treat People But Are Not ‘People’ Themselves

In a recent decision, the California Supreme Court takes an in-depth look at legislative history to dissect whether a county hospital authority entity can be liable for meal and rest period violations under the labor code and whether they can be considered “persons” subject to California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) penalties. In short, they […]

NLRB Under Pressure in Presidential Election Year

The current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) under President Joe Biden has been heavily involved in moving forward the administration’s prolabor goals. But as the Biden administration draws to a close, the Board faces a series of challenges. Board Abandons Joint Employer Regulations The NLRB’s expansive joint employer rule, issued in October 2023, faces an […]

Loper Bright Already Affecting Biden Regulations

With its 2024 Loper Bright decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the long-standing doctrine of Chevron deference, under which courts deferred to federal agencies’ interpretation of a statute when the text was ambiguous. The decision is already affecting numerous federal regulations. 5th Circuit Considering Whether to Remand Trump OT Case The U.S. 5th Circuit Court […]