On April 16, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) quietly issued a request for amicus briefing in a case it is currently waiting to decide on appeal. The case involves the question of whether a union can charge dues…
Blog Archives
Brace Yourselves: Major Overtime Regulations Coming Soon
The Department of Labor has been promising an overhaul of the white collar exemption regulations for over a year. The regulations were originally planned to be released in the Fall of 2014, but were pushed back to February 2015. We…
Tagged with: Department of Labor, DOL, exempt, human resources, non-exempt, overtime, salary exemption
Posted in Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
Posted in Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
New FMLA Regulations Will Affect Texas Employers
Texas does not recognize same sex marriage, so the natural thought would be to deny a request for an employee to take FMLA leave to care for his or her same sex “spouse” from a marriage in another state. According…
Tagged with: Department of Labor, DOL, human resources
Posted in Discrimination, Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
Posted in Discrimination, Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
EEOC Loses Another Background Check Case
The EEOC has taken a lot of heat on its controversial stance of aggressively litigating adverse impact cases involving background checks. In April, 2012, the EEOC issued a new enforcement guidance seeking to curtail the uses of criminal background checks…
If You Are Planning Layoffs – Here Are Five Things You Need to Know
Unfortunately, when the price of oil goes down, the employment numbers also move downward in Houston. Many clients in the oil and gas industry are either planning or considering downsizing measures, which means that it is a good time to…
If You Haven’t Already, It’s Time to Add Sexual Orientation and Trans-Gender to Your Discrimination Policy
On its face, federal law does not list sexual orientation or trans-gender status as protected categories. Some states or cities have passed their own laws offering such protections, leaving a patchwork of laws across the country. For this reason, many employers…
Posted in Uncategorized
Department of Labor Targeting Oil and Gas Contractors
On December 9, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it had achieved $4.5 million dollars in settlements from private employers as a result of a two year investigation into contractors working in the Marcellus Shale region of…
Tagged with: Department of Labor, DOL, exempt, off-the-clock, overtime, salary exemption
Posted in Discrimination, Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
Posted in Discrimination, Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
The Secularization of the Holidays
Employers are under increased pressure to secularize religious holidays like Christmas. No one wants to be the Grinch, but at the same time, many companies are concerned that they will being perceived as favoring Christian holidays over Muslim or Jewish…
Posted in Discrimination, Labor & Employment
Election Brings New Wave of Minimum Wage Increases
Election day 2014 brought more than just a wave of new Republican politicians, it also brought a wave of minimum wage increases across the country. For employers with operations in multiple states, payroll just got more complicated. Five states approved…
Posted in Uncategorized
Can State Medical Marijuana Laws Trump Employer Rights?
Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia have medical marijuana laws which allow a lawful level of marijuana use. One question which comes up often in such states is whether an employer can lawfully terminate an employee who fails…
Tagged with: Department of Labor, EEOC, Unemployment benefits
Posted in Discrimination, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
Posted in Discrimination, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
