The Department of Labor has actively gone after employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors rather than employees for several years now.  Recently, Uber was the latest target by a former driver who claimed the drivers should be employees.  The litigation resulted in a class action that involved over 385,000 drivers. Uber announced a preliminary Read More 

The final overtime rule is edging closer to release: yesterday, the Department of Labor (DOL) sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) its final changes for determining which workers are eligible for overtime pay. The revision to Fair Labor Standards Act regulations is expected to affect millions of employees currently considered exempt from overtime, Read More 

Another layer of red tape has been added for employers seeking to avoid unionization. Their consultants’ indirect communications with employees about unions—intended to sway workers against unionizing—now are activities that must be reported by the consultants to the federal government under the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) final “persuader rule,” published in the Federal Register March Read More 

2016 marks the last year of the EEOC’s 2013-2016 Strategic Enforcement Plan. Still, many of the issues the agency faced three years ago remain, in addition to some new ones. From pregnancy discrimination to wellness programs to LGBT discrimination to harassment and, most recently, to pay discrimination, the EEOC continues to aggressively pursue employers who Read More 

If an employee is acting abnormally or exhibiting signs of mental impairment, can an employer require the employee to take a fitness-for-duty examination? Tim Garrett of Bass Berry & Sims recently addressed that question in a recent blog post.  Here are some of his tips, based on recent case law: Don’t rely on anonymous sources: Read More 

In an important Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) case, Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, the Supreme Court recently ruled that time employees spent waiting to undergo and undergoing security screenings is not compensable under the FLSA. The case involved the interpretation of the Portal-to-Portal Act, which amended the FLSA to preclude employer liability when Read More 

A recent summary order from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit – which exercises federal appellate jurisdiction over New York, Connecticut and Vermont — serves as a reminder that an employer’s reliance upon its employee handbook can also prove its undoing. In Langenkamp v. Olson, the Second Circuit reversed the federal Read More 

An employer may not make an applicant’s religious practice, confirmed or otherwise, a factor in employment decisions, according to a 2015 Supreme Court decision.  In EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch, Inc., the Court ruled that Title VII’s prohibition against religious discrimination and its mandate that reasonable accommodations be made for religious practices may apply even Read More 

Hopefully, the correct content!  Small employers are often concerned about having the words in a handbook used against them and think it is better not to have one.  If a handbook is properly drafted and reviewed by legal counsel, it can be vital for an employer’s defense of many claims.  It is far worse not Read More 

A recent decision from the Kentucky Supreme Court has clarified the quantum of proof required to support a claim for emotional distress damages in employment discrimination cases.  See Banker v. Univ. of Louisville Athletic Assoc., Inc., 466 S.W.3d 456 (Ky. 2015).  The decision is important for Kentucky employers because it addresses an unsettled area of Read More