Whether you’re the founder of a startup, new to HR, or are looking for a refresher on some of the basics, this podcast miniseries will provide you with the building blocks necessary to successfully achieve a healthy and compliant employer/employee relationship. In each episode, Verrill Dana labor and employment attorney Tawny Alvarez informs listeners of the nuances and pitfalls of common areas of HR law, beginning the series by addressing the basics of hiring.  Since…

On June 26, 8:00-9:30 AM, we are hosting ‘What Maine Employers Need To Know About Changes In Personnel Practices Following This Legislative Session’ in our Portland office. During this in-person seminar, Verrill Dana and MassPay are partnering to deliver a discussion about the latest laws and regulations that were enacted during Maine’s most recent legislative session that apply to the employer/employee relationship.  Verrill Dana’s labor and employment attorney Tawny Alvarez and MassPay’s HR Generalist Amanda Bridge’s in-depth discussion will…

On April 12, 2019, Governor Mills signed into law LD 278, “An Act Regarding Pay Equality.”  Under the new laws (5 M.R.S.A. § 4577; 26 M.R.S.A. § 628-A) employers may not “use or inquire about the compensation history of a prospective employee from the prospective employee or a current or former employer of the prospective employee unless an offer of employment that includes all terms of compensation has been negotiated and made to the…

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recently announced a proposed rule updating regulations governing what items are included in an employee’s regular rate of pay.  This constitutes the first update to the definition of the regular rate of pay in over fifty years.  Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must pay nonexempt employees an overtime rate of at least one and one-half the employee’s regular rate of pay for hours worked…

On March 22, 2019, a federal judge permitted an Ohio man’s class action lawsuit to proceed against Ford Motor Company.  The lawsuit alleges the company discriminated against disabled job applicants because its online job application wasn’t fully accessible.  In the past, experts have advised on the importance of having a well-designed website for marketing purposes, but this case may make the “well designed” nature of a website important not just for aesthetic purposes, but also…

How many times have you heard, as a Human Resources professional, an employee make the statement:  “I need leave, but I don’t want to use my FMLA leave”?  In many cases, our initial response is to educate the employee and help them understand that Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave is not bad and won’t be used against them in the future.  In fact, the primary purpose of the statute is to protect employees who…

Yesterday, March 7, 2019, the United States Department of Labor unveiled a proposal to change the FLSA as it applies to non-exempt employees eligible for overtime.  The proposed change increases the required weekly salary to maintain an exempt position from the current $455 per week to $679 per week (effective January 2020).  Currently, under federal law, the FLSA has a threshold of $24,000 per year for an individual to meet the salary basis test in…