Employment Law Landscape

Providing Insight into the Ever-Changing Landscape of Labor & Employment Law

Weeding Out the Issues of Legalizing Recreational Marijuana in Illinois

By Lauren S. Novak & Paul D. Newendyke on June 10, 2019

The haze of Springfield’s recent legislative session has cleared, and Illinois has become the latest state poised to legalize marijuana. Like many other businesses throughout the country, Illinois employers will be faced with the complexity of enforcing their drug and substance abuse policies while their employees have the legal right to use marijuana outside of the workplace.…

Employment Law Landscape

EEOC Compliance Update: Employers Must Now Also Submit 2017 EEO-1 Component 2 Data by September 30

By Nora Kersten-Walsh on May 6, 2019

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has updated last week’s statement, described here, to confirm that in addition to 2018 “Component 2” pay data, it will now also be seeking data for calendar year 2017 by the September 30 deadline. While EEO-1 compliance for 2019 appears to be a moving target, employers should plan to heed the EEOC’s statement and prepare to comply with the September 30 deadline for Component 2 data for…

Employment Law Landscape

EEOC Compliance Notice: Employers Must File EEO-1 Component 2 Data by September 30

By Nora Kersten-Walsh on May 1, 2019

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC document and pen on a table.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a statement notifying covered entities to prepare to submit EEO-1 “Component 2” pay data for calendar year 2018 by the end of September. According to the Notice of Immediate Reinstatement of Revised EEO-1: Pay Data Collection, the EEOC expects to start collecting this data in mid-July, and in the meantime, filers must still submit their EEO-1 “Component 1” data for calendar year 2018 by the…

Employment Law Landscape

SCOTUS Deals Another Blow to Classwide Arbitration

By Lauren S. Novak & Kyle Jacob on April 25, 2019

Yesterday, in a 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the United States Supreme Court held that ambiguous arbitration agreements do not provide the affirmative contractual basis required to send a dispute to classwide arbitration. In so ruling, the Court extended previous pro-business decisions holding that consent to classwide arbitration cannot be inferred from a contract that is “silent” on the issue. This decision is a business- and employer-friendly outcome that affirms the use…

Employment Law Landscape

DOL Releases Proposed Higher Salary Threshold for Federal Overtime Exemptions

By Nora Kersten-Walsh & Derek Barella on March 8, 2019

On March 7, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced its long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to increase the salary threshold for the so-called “white collar exemptions” from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime pay requirements. The proposed rule would raise the required salary level substantially for executive, administrative, and professional employee exemptions from $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to $679 per week ($35,308 per year). According to the DOL, more than one million…

Employment Law Landscape

Companies Walk a Fine Line Between Disciplining Staff and Violating NLRA

By Paul D. Newendyke & Lauren S. Novak on February 25, 2019

Above view of businessman walking on tightrope

For several years now, union and non-union employers have been stuck between a rock and a hard place because of dissonance between anti-discrimination laws and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Consider the following situation: An employer can discipline its employees based on discriminatory or harassing behavior and then face an unfair labor practice charge if the employees claim that their conduct was protected concerted activity under the NLRA. Alternatively, an employer can choose not…

Employment Law Landscape

Reporting for Duty: In California, It’s Compensable, Even When Employees are Told Not to Come to Work

By William J. Carroll & Paul D. Newendyke on February 14, 2019

Last week’s decision in Ward v. Tilly’s Inc. means that California employers with on-call policies are required to pay a minimum of two hours reporting time pay, even if the employee is told there is no need to come in to work that day. A California Court of Appeal held that a company’s on-call scheduling policy requiring employees to call the employer in advance of a shift to find out if they need to appear…

Employment Law Landscape

Six Flags Raises Red Flags: Illinois Supreme Court Weighs In On BIPA

By Rebecca Canary-King & Lauren S. Novak on January 28, 2019

On January 25, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a person can seek liquidated damages based on a technical violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), even if that person has suffered no actual injury as a result of the violation. Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp. No. 123186 (Ill. Jan. 25, 2019) presents operational and legal issues for companies that collect fingerprints, facial scans, or other images that may be considered biometric…

Employment Law Landscape

2019 Labor and Employment Legislative Developments

By Schiff Hardin Labor and Employment Group on January 2, 2019

Rolled newspaper with the headline Changes in legislation

Schiff Hardin’s Labor and Employment Group presents our annual legislative update, summarizing legislation slated to take effect in 2019 under federal law and in Illinois, California, New York, Michigan, and District of Columbia.…

Employment Law Landscape

Four Themes from the National Climate Assessment that May Impact Your Business Strategy

By Jane E. Montgomery on November 29, 2018

As climate change is integrated more and more into the planning of corporate opportunities and risks, the Fourth National Climate Assessment released last week may be a valuable resource to assess how climate change may impact your business strategy on the horizon.…

Employment Law Landscape

Providing Insight into the Ever-Changing Landscape of Labor & Employment Law

Blog Authors

Weeding Out the Issues of Legalizing Recreational Marijuana in Illinois

EEOC Compliance Update: Employers Must Now Also Submit 2017 EEO-1 Component 2 Data by September 30

EEOC Compliance Notice: Employers Must File EEO-1 Component 2 Data by September 30

SCOTUS Deals Another Blow to Classwide Arbitration

DOL Releases Proposed Higher Salary Threshold for Federal Overtime Exemptions

Companies Walk a Fine Line Between Disciplining Staff and Violating NLRA

Reporting for Duty: In California, It’s Compensable, Even When Employees are Told Not to Come to Work

Six Flags Raises Red Flags: Illinois Supreme Court Weighs In On BIPA

2019 Labor and Employment Legislative Developments

Four Themes from the National Climate Assessment that May Impact Your Business Strategy

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