Labor & Employment Insights

Perspectives in labor and employment law affecting employers and businesses

January 15, 2021

When everyone’s phone issues that long beep indicating a hazardous weather warning, you know that weather could possibly affect your workplace. With blizzard season (or, in the South, snow flurry season) underway, we have updated this previously published group of tips on how to deal with extreme weather. Hurricanes, Blizzards, and That Dreaded TORCON Index At the beginning of another storm season, we have been receiving questions across our offices about how to handle pay…

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Who’s the Boss? U.S. DOL Issues Final Rule on Independent Contractor Status

By T. Matthew Miller & Anne R. Yuengert

January 7, 2021

Employers often ask, “Can this worker be an independent contractor?” The answer is often unclear due to the different tests for employee versus independent contractor status, which vary between federal circuit courts and from state to state. In the end, the answer typically depends on how much risk the employer is willing to take. In an effort to simplify the answer, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced on January 6, 2021, a final rule …

Labor & Employment Insights

Tell Me Again — Do We Have to Give FFCRA Leave in 2021?

By Anne R. Yuengert & J. William Manuel

January 5, 2021

2020 is in the rearview mirror. Whew! Unfortunately, COVID-19 is not gone and certainly not forgotten. The latest hot topic has been what to do with employees who think they should get paid leave for COVID-19 reasons that were provided under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA.) (In case you need a refresher on this leave, we blogged on it every other day in the spring.) If you have fewer than 500 employees…

Labor & Employment Insights

Good Riddance, 2020! Don’t Let the Door Hit Ya’ On the Way Out…

By J. William Manuel & Anne R. Yuengert

December 28, 2020

It was a mess of times. It was the masked of times. We all probably agree that 2020 presented unexpected and unwanted challenges to employers. It certainly made all of us address unprecedented issues. Let’s look back at some of the things we had to learn during the last 12 tumultuous months and see what perspective we may have on them now: Remember pre-COVID-19? It’s almost too difficult to do. Back in January, we were looking at ordinary law changes…

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What to Do Before OSHA Comes Knocking with a COVID-19 Inspection

By Stephanie C. Gaston & Anne R. Yuengert

December 22, 2020

Earlier this year, OSHA issued Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19, an educational reference designed to advise employers in all industries on implementing engineering, administrative, and work practice controls and personal protective equipment (PPE). The guidance is purely advisory and does not create new legal obligations. Nevertheless, now that OSHA is turning its attention to enforcement and investigation of COVID-related workplace hazards, the guidance proves to be a good way to set your company…

Labor & Employment Insights

‘Tis the Season — Year-End Reminder of 2020’s FLSA Salary Threshold Increase and What You May Need to Check Now

By Anne Knox Averitt, T. Matthew Miller & Anne R. Yuengert

December 17, 2020

Remember last January and the salary threshold change the Department of Labor rolled out for salaried exempt and highly compensated employees under the FLSA? As the end of the year approaches, you might need to revisit the DOL’s salary threshold increases that took effect January 1, 2020. In January, we anticipated that this would be one of the more consequential developments of 2020 in the employment sphere, but as you know, a pandemic arrived, and…

Labor & Employment Insights

I’m So Confused! Just How Long Does Your COVID-19-Exposed Employee Have to Quarantine?

By Anne R. Yuengert & J. William Manuel

December 9, 2020

Just when you thought you had the rules down for when and how long an employee has to quarantine, the CDC changes the rules. Or has it? In its guidance, When You Can Be Around Others After You Had or Likely Had COVID-19 (updated on December 1, 2020), the CDC hasn’t really changed its tune. As we read it, 14 days is still the gold standard: Anyone who has had close contact with someone with…

Labor & Employment Insights

EEOC Explore: The EEOC’s New Data Tool — What Does It Mean for Employers?

By J. William Manuel & Anne R. Yuengert

December 3, 2020

The EEOC is trying to make it easier to get information about employment trends and has launched EEOC Explore, “an interactive data query and mapping tool” that gives you access to aggregate data on more than 56 million employees and 73,000 employers across the U.S. According to the EEOC’s FAQs, this tool will enable you to get data from the EEO-1 reports that employers file each year. With this tool, a user can slice…

Labor & Employment Insights

Happy Thanksgiving! 7 Things for Which We Are Thankful – 2020 Edition

By Stephanie C. Gaston & Anne R. Yuengert

November 24, 2020

Many of us are understandably anxious to put the year 2020 behind us and move onward and upward! But before we all sit down at the table and fill our plates and bellies to overflowing as we start the holiday season, we can all find some bright shining blessings in what has otherwise been a difficult year (to say the least). We are grateful to have weathered hurricanes, wildfires, global pandemics and a divisive election.…

Labor & Employment Insights

Voters Legalize Marijuana, Employers Ask Questions

By Sarahanne Vaughan, Whitt Steineker & Anne R. Yuengert

November 19, 2020

Earlier this month, voters in five states took to the ballot box and legalized some form of marijuana use. Polls show that two-thirds of Americans now favor marijuana legalization, and 59% said it should be legal for both recreational and medical purposes. This is a sharp contrast to Gallup’s first poll on the issue in 1969, when only 12% of Americans favored legalizing marijuana. And the support isn’t entirely based on partisan lines: 55% of…

Labor & Employment Insights

Perspectives in labor and employment law affecting employers and businesses

Blog Authors

And Don’t Forget the Milk and Bread – Paying Employees in Weather Emergencies

Who’s the Boss? U.S. DOL Issues Final Rule on Independent Contractor Status

Tell Me Again — Do We Have to Give FFCRA Leave in 2021?

Good Riddance, 2020! Don’t Let the Door Hit Ya’ On the Way Out…

What to Do Before OSHA Comes Knocking with a COVID-19 Inspection

‘Tis the Season — Year-End Reminder of 2020’s FLSA Salary Threshold Increase and What You May Need to Check Now

I’m So Confused! Just How Long Does Your COVID-19-Exposed Employee Have to Quarantine?

EEOC Explore: The EEOC’s New Data Tool — What Does It Mean for Employers?

Happy Thanksgiving! 7 Things for Which We Are Thankful – 2020 Edition

Voters Legalize Marijuana, Employers Ask Questions

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