The Employment Law Counselor

Listen now to hear the newest episode of The Employment Law Counselor, Hosted by Jeff Stewart in collaboration with the Professional Liability Underwriting Society. Partner Ryan Warden joins Jeff to discuss the recent explosion in wage and hour claims over the past few years in this week's episode titled "Wage Claims Are On The Rise, But Are They Covered?" Jeff and Ryan cover common issues, including minimum wage violations, unpaid overtime claims and wage and hour class actions.

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The Employment Law Counselor hosted by Jeff Stewart is launching the first episode of its new season in collaboration with Professional Liability Underwriting Society. In this episode, Partner Jeff Stewart is joined by Jim Anelli, Partner and Chair of the Labor and Employment Group at White and Williams, for a conversation diving into how companies can avoid liability in layoff situations.

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On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to prohibit employers from entering into non-compete clauses with workers and require employers to rescind existing non-compete clauses. Proponents argue that non-compete clauses hold American workers “hostage” by keeping wages low and suppressing new businesses and innovation.

Dissenters, on the other hand, contend that, “the proposed rule is a radical departure from hundreds of years of legal precedent that employs a fact specific inquiry into whether a non-compete clause is ... Continue Reading

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) regulations on November 4, 2021, that will affect most employers in the United States. In brief, by December 5, 2021, all unvaccinated employees of businesses with 100 or more employees (the calculation is firm/corporate level, NOT per location) must wear masks indoors (including in a vehicle with another person for work purposes). By January 4, 2022, all businesses with 100 or more employees must ensure employees are fully vaccinated or subject to regular testing at least weekly (which can be at the employee’s own expense, though collective bargaining agreements may require employers to pay for such tests). The new regulations are expected to cover more than 80 million employees.Continue Reading

One of the more challenging issues for employers seeking to roll out mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies has been the administration of requests for religious accommodations. Just before the new OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard regarding mandatory COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing was announced, the EEOC issued a new update to its Technical Assistance on COVID-19 that provides guidance and assistance on the thorny issue of religious accommodations to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements.Continue Reading

Employers are getting desperate to find employees, so much so that they are foregoing some of the requirements that they used to have for positions. In some cases, instead of seeking applicants with past experience, employers are training new hires.Continue Reading

New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits employers from unlawfully discriminating against employees based on, among other things, their race, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, disability, national origin, sex and age. The LAD is also quite broad in its application in comparison to federal protections against discrimination (e.g., the LAD applies to all employers while Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is only applicable to employers with 15 or more employees). On October 5, 2021, Governor Murphy signed legislation providing increased protections for employees 70 years old or older.Continue Reading

Last month, the EEOC filed a first of its kind lawsuit in federal court in Georgia based on an employer’s denial of an accommodation request to work from home. In the suit, the employee, a former health and safety manager at a facility services company, alleged that at the start of the pandemic, she requested to work from home as an accommodation for her chronic obstructive lung disease and hypertension. Shortly after her request, the company directed its employees to work from home four days per week. In June 2020, the company required that all staff to return to in-person work at the facility five days per week.Continue Reading

On September 18, 2021, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidelines for Quarantine and Isolation (Guidance) with respect to the COVID-19 virus. For purposes of the Guidance, “quarantine” is the appropriate response if a person may have been exposed to the virus, while “isolation” is the response for a person infected with the virus, even with no symptoms. With the expected issuance of workplace guidelines (and governmental mandates usually based on CDC Guidance) keeping informed of the changes and updates will be critical for employers as employees return to office workspace.Continue Reading

Ever since the 2020 presidential election last November, we have forecasted what a President Biden-appointed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and General Counsel would mean for our employer clients. For example, the NLRB stated in an August opinion that it was willing to “explore new make-whole remedies.” In near lock step with the NLRB, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo recently revealed her playbook in the form of General Counsel Memorandum 21-06, which spells trouble for employers who are charged with unfair labor practices by an employee or a union.Continue Reading