Labor & Employment Law Update

Over 33 states and 150 cities, counties and municipalities have enacted Ban-the Box laws that prohibit employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal record or criminal history prior to the applicant being selected for an interview or, if there is no interview, prior to a conditional offer of employment.

But did you know that Ban-the-Box laws can also impact your job posting or advertisement?

Yes, these laws can, and much like the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Ban the Box laws are being used by “professional plaintiffs” to go ...

The flu virus circulates all year round, although according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), flu activity historically peaks in February. Here are a couple of flu-related questions frequently asked by employers:

Is an employee entitled to FMLA for absences due to the flu?

Maybe. The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides covered employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12 month period if the employee has a “serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform” his or her job.  A serious health condition is an illness that involves ...

The changes anticipated after the Illinois elections are steadily moving forward. On Thursday, February 8, 2019, the Senate passed Senate Bill 0001 (SB0001).  SB0001 has now moved on to the House of Representatives and been assigned to the Labor & Commerce Committee. The word is that the House of Representatives is looking to vote on this within the next week and if passed move it on to the Governor for signature within the next two weeks.  With the change in administrations, it is safe to say that it is only a matter of time before SB0001, or another bill increasing the minimum wage, is ...

On January 23, 2019, an en banc panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act’s (ADEA) disparate impact protections do not apply to job applicants.    

By way of background, 58-year-old Dale Kleber applied for CareFusion’s posting seeking an attorney with “3 to 7 years (no more than 7 years) of relevant legal experience.” Kleber had more experience than that, but instead of hiring Kleber, CareFusion hired a 29-year-old within the given experience range. There are a few key takeaways from this decision:

First, an en ...

The enforceability of arbitration agreements with employees in Missouri has been an area of uncertainty for some time.  However, the Missouri Supreme Court recently offered some clarity in a decision sure to be cheered by employers seeking to keep employee disputes out of court.

In Easter Seals Midwest v. Soars, the court was asked to weigh in on the enforceability of an arbitration agreement an employee signed as a necessary condition of initial employment with his employer.  The agreement in question was a standalone agreement, offered at the time the employee was hired, and ...

In an important development for employers defending against discrimination claims across the country, the Supreme Court has agreed to review the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in Fort Bend County v. Davis on the viability of claims brought in federal courts where the claimant has not first filed her claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  There is currently a circuit split in federal appellate courts on this issue.  Regardless of which side the Supreme Court ultimately takes, the Court’s decision will have a critical impact on the steps a claimant must take ...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a proposed rule on November 30, 2018 that would require H-1B cap subject petitioners to register electronically with USCIS which would then conduct the annual H-1B lottery from the pool of timely-filed registrants.

The registration window would open 14 days before the H-1B filing window opens on April 1 and remain open for 14 days after that date. Petitioners selected during the lottery would be notified that they are eligible to file their petition and would have a 60-day window to do so.

The proposed rule would also reverse the order ...

The US Government was shut down for over a month, and the government’s E-Verify system was down from December 22, 2018, to January 27, 2019. During the shutdown, employers who are E-Verify users were unable to enter any of their newly hired employees into the E-Verify system.  But E-Verify users shouldn’t fret.  USCIS is giving you a grace period to catch up.  The Department of Homeland Security and USCIS have updated the E-Verify website to address the shutdown.

The website states: “Now that E-Verify operations have resumed, employers who ...

In light of the current winter storm pounding the U.S. with snow and extreme subzero temperatures, this is a short reminder of when employees must be paid for emergency closures due to inclement weather.

Nonexempt Employees – Generally, hourly workers must only be paid for time they actually work.  They do not need to be paid when the business is closed or closes early due to a weather emergency.  As a side note, when paying a nonexempt employee on a salary basis, state laws may suggest treating compensation more like that paid to a salary exempt employee.

Exempt ...

As reported last November, the Illinois Supreme Court has had in front of it perhaps the seminal case, Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp., regarding Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Prior to landing before the Supreme Court, the lower (appellate) court had ruled that simply claiming a violation of the notice and consent requirements of BIPA was not tantamount to alleging a compensable injury. Branding such claims only “technical” in nature, the lower court found these were not cases or controversies. If that was all you had, said the ...