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Employment Law

They didn’t seriously argue that, did they? Religion in the kitchen stirs the DOL to action

06/21/2023
Religion in the workplace is a touchy matter. What if your boss brought in a priest and encouraged everyone to confess their sins? What if you weren’t Catholic? It’s not a hypothetical question. An employee of a California restaurant testified that his employer brought in a person identified as a priest to hear their confessions during work hours.

Handle requests for religious accommodations by holding interactive talks about options

05/24/2023
Title VII requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs and practices. Employers must handle requests for religious accommodations just as they do requests for disability accommodations under the ADA—through an interactive process in which the employee’s and the employer’s competing needs are discussed.

Proposed regs would strengthen HIPAA’s privacy provisions

05/02/2023
Proposed regulations issued April 17 by the Department of Health and Human Services would extend the scope of HIPAA’s privacy protections specifically to women who travel to other states to receive reproductive health-care services where those services are legal and would apply to almost all judicial or administrative proceedings related to this care.

PUMP Act becomes effective April 28

04/10/2023
The PUMP Act, enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, extends FLSA-protected unpaid lactation breaks to nursing mothers who are exempt employees. The law becomes effective April 28. The Department of Labor has already revised Fact Sheet #73 to account for this change. It’s also created some new resources ahead of the law’s effective date.

Employees can tell it like it is (or isn’t)

04/06/2023
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a broad decision invalidating these non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements when offered in conjunction with severance pay in a union setting. Even offering a severance package contingent on employees signing these agreements is out of bounds, according to the decision.

How much and when? The increase in the FLSA’s salary level for exempts is near (or not)

04/04/2023
Let’s be clear—no one knows what these regulations will contain. Nevertheless, it’s prudent to proceed as if these regulations will see the light of day next month.

Step in to stop workplace toxicity that disproportionately harms women

03/29/2023
According to new research released in the MIT Sloan Management Review, women are 41% more likely than men to experience a toxic corporate culture. The pandemic appears to have widened the toxic-culture gender gap.

Witnessed wrongdoing? Here’s what to do

03/15/2023
Knowing how to respond to misconduct before you face it is essential for your long-term career and peace of mind.

Poll: More than half of workers over the age of 40 have experienced discrimination

02/23/2023
Age bias is alive and well in the workplace 56 years after enactment of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, according to a new survey conducted by Moneyzine.com.

How to handle long COVID under ADA, FMLA

02/23/2023
A new study from New York’s largest workers’ comp carrier says long COVID contributes significantly to current labor shortages and harms productivity.