Industry News

Have you ever wondered what factors influence the online ratings people give your business on review sites such as Citysearch and TripAdvisor?

Following up on a pledge to use his executive authority to make changes, President Barack Obama made a big push to increase the minimum wage for some employees and to encourage employers nationwide to increase wages for their workers.

Recently, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals became the first appellate court to hold that an employee with a temporary impairment is protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), as amended, if the impairment is “sufficiently severe” to substantially limit a major life activity. Thus, for some temporarily-disabled employees, employers must now consider whether reasonable accommodations exist that would allow that employee to perform the essential functions of the job.

While restaurants are facing more and more lawsuits filed by employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the number of lawsuits filed against individuals, such as officers, managers, supervisors, and shareholders of restaurants, whom employees claim are also their employers, are increasing in frequency as well.

You may have seen the article making the rounds last week about the Facebook® post that cost a Florida man $80,000. For those unfamiliar with the story – or for those who didn't make it past the headline – a Florida appeals court found that a school headmaster violated the terms of a confidential age discrimination settlement after his daughter mentioned the settlement on Facebook®. As a result of the disclosure, the headmaster forfeited the $80,000 settlement payment.

U.S. Supreme Court broadly interprets statute to cover employees of a public company’s private contractors and subcontractors

As noted in our January 15th elert, for your business to work well, you likely share all or some of the company's most sensitive, confidential information with your employees. Such information can include client preferences and key decision makers, financial and profit data, sales strategy documents, product development plans, recipes and so forth.

It should come as no surprise that during the course of my legal career that I’m often asked, while in a social setting, for advice. As a practitioner in the field of immigration law I’m asked my opinion on pending legislation, the current state of affairs and of course how to handle an issue involving a loyal worker. This article will distill some of the issues that have been presented to me and the advice that was administered. Keep in mind that while you may have a similar situation, this article is not meant to be used in lieu of consulting with your own immigration counsel.

In a move that was widely anticipated, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced on February 5, 2014 that it was proposing revised union election rules to dramatically shorten the time frame to conduct union elections. The proposed rules are virtually identical to the changes that the NLRB originally proposed in June of 2011 and adopted later that year in November, which the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ultimately invalidated in May 2012.

Most employers are aware of their obligation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) to accommodate a disabled employee in a way that would assist the employee in performing the essential functions of his or her job. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion, however, recognizing that an employer’s obligation to accommodate a disabled employee also extends beyond that which is necessary to assist the employee in performing the job.

In our 11.19.13 e-lert, we recommended revising your company's policies to account for the rapidly-developing law surrounding social media. While perhaps the most visible, the emerging risks for your business are not limited to social media.

The classification of workers as independent contractors is not only drawing the attention of governmental tax and labor departments, but also the attention of plaintiffs' lawyers looking to bring lawsuits under state and federal wage and hour laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has opened up its proverbial playbook and shared some of its offensive strategies for enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws in the New Year. Knowing what to expect, the savvy employer can ready the perfect defense: ensure that policies and practices are compliant so as to reduce the likelihood of receiving a notice of a charge of discrimination or, worse, becoming a defendant in a disparate impact litigation case brought by the EEOC.

For your business to work, you are required to share with certain employees the company's most sensitive, confidential information, such as client or product lists, financial and profit information, and strategic planning documents. Unfortunately, with the advent of e-mail, zip drives, online drop boxes, and the “cloud,” it is easy and tempting for employees to take all or some of this information on their way out the door – and share it with a competitor.

As noted in our December 11, 2013 e-lert, whether the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) prohibits employers from requiring class and collective action waivers, is far from settled.