If April Showers bring May…Oh never mind. In Connecticut, April might as well mean that the General Assembly is getting serious about the bills under consideration.  All the proposals that make headlines in February mean nothing until committees start to vote on the bills and the bills start getting the spotlight on them. Usually by now, we start to see a significant fall off between aspirational goals and practical bills. Not this year. Right now,…

The Connecticut Appellate Court has an interesting case coming out officially early next week about an employer’s obligations to provide leave as a “reasonable accommodation”. You can download Barbabosa v. Board of Education here. In it, the Court concludes that when attendance is an essential function of the job (as it will be for most jobs), an employee’s request for intermittent extended leave — that is, more days off — is not a reasonable accommodation…

There are certain expressions in the employment law world that don’t make much sense.   Call them: Employment Law Oxymorons. At least for me, hearing an employer ask what they should do about their “1099 Employees” is one of them. Let’s back up one step: Employees are paid wages and as such, they get issued a W-2 tax form at the end of the year. Independent contractors are paid fees and as such, they should be…

There are certain expressions in the employment law world that don’t make much sense.   Call them: Employment Law Oxymorons. At least for me, hearing an employer ask what they should do about their “1099 Employees” is one of them. Let’s back up one step: Employees are paid wages and as such, they get issued a W-2 tax form at the end of the year. Independent contractors are paid fees and as such, they should be…

Readers of the blog will no doubt know that it’s been far too long since I had Nina Pirrotti on the blog for a conversation about employment law topics. Excuses abound, but Nina — who mainly represents individuals in employment-related disputes — recently penned a piece for the Connecticut Law Tribune that is too good to let more time pass. So, knowing still that titling a piece a “Dialogue” while just offering up a link …

The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunity (CHRO) was sued yesterday by its longtime (and former) Regional Manager Pekah Wallace.  The federal lawsuit claims her employment termination was improper and provides a whole host of information about what has been going on behind the scenes at the agency. You can download the complaint here.   (As with all new lawsuits, my standard warning applies — these are allegations in a complaint, not a determination from…

Later today, I’ll be speaking to the next group of startups chosen to participate in the Accelerator for Biosciences in Connecticut, or ABCT.  ABCT is a Branford-based program spearheaded by Design Technologies LLC, which supports Connecticut’s aim of being a bioscience hub. It’s an exciting time for new businesses in Connecticut like those chosen to participate in the program. But employment law issues are often an after-thought for startups.  They shouldn’t be. I’ll be talking…