The EEOC approved a new National Enforcement Plan last week, and for the first time in recent memory ever, the agency has put DEI programs, religious accommodations, and national origin bias against American workers on the same priority list.
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Latest from The Employer Handbook Blog
Rejected for a Positive Cannabis Test in New Jersey? Now Applicants Can Sue.
A federal appeals court ruled in 2024 that New Jersey job applicants had no legal recourse when employers rejected them over a positive recreational cannabis test. The New Jersey Appellate Division just disagreed.
TL;DR: In a first-impression ruling, the New
Does Your Quarterly Bonus Program Create an Overtime Recomputation Obligation?
If your quarterly bonus is calculated as a proportional share of each employee’s total earnings — straight time plus overtime — the DOL says you do not owe any additional overtime on top of it. The overtime premium is already
Do You Owe Employees More Paid Time If Leaving the Building Takes Half Their Lunch Break?
An employee at a large secured facility argued that a 30-minute meal break was effectively coercive because the walk to the parking lot consumed most of it. The DOL disagreed — and the reasoning applies to any employer whose physical
Can a Salaried Exempt Employee Work Hourly Shifts Without Triggering Overtime on the Whole Salary?
Some salaried employees want to pick up extra hourly shifts — in a warehouse, on a retail floor, at a patient bedside. The DOL just confirmed that arrangement can work under the FLSA, with conditions worth understanding before you build
“De Minimis” Is Not a Magic Eraser for Seven Daily Minutes of Off-the-Clock Work
Seven minutes doesn’t sound like much. Multiply it by 18,000 employees, every workday, and it’s a wage and hour audit waiting to happen.
TL;DR: The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued Opinion Letter FLSA2026-8 on May 28, 2026,
How an Employer Survived a Discrimination Claim After Violating Its Own Hiring Policies
The city’s civil-service commission told it to follow its own hiring policies. It didn’t. It still won.
TL;DR: A Chinese-born engineer with a Ph.D. was passed over twice for a superintendent role in favor of a younger, white candidate without
Illegal Deductions, No Records, No Tip Credit: A Restaurant’s FLSA Trifecta
A restaurant charged its servers a dollar a shift for silverware and pens. That dollar voided the tip credit for every hour every server ever worked, and the liquidated damages doubled the bill.
TL;DR: Former servers sued a Texas restaurant
The Comparator Problem: What This Teacher’s Case Gets Wrong About Religious Discrimination
A teacher gets twice the students, a warning for observing a religious holiday, and a misconduct investigation after venting on a union Facebook page. She loses every claim.
TL;DR: A Jewish teacher at a Detroit public school alleged religious discrimination
Who Should Investigate a Harassment Complaint? Not the Harasser.
The answer seems obvious. The facts of this case suggest otherwise.
TL;DR: A bisexual Army police officer was called a homophobic slur multiple times by a coworker. Less than two months after reporting the harassment, management launched an investigation into