Labor & Employment Law Update

When was the last time you conducted an HR audit for your organization?

We’re all busy and get distracted easily. Often times HR considers a thorough review of the Employee Handbook is enough to ensure all is well from a legal compliance perspective as to personnel policies and practices. Not quite. A closer examination of an employer’s forms, contracts, procedures, practices and actual day-to-day management is essential. In other words, a deeper dive into an organization’s HR-universe is necessary these days. In a world of increased workplace regulation and litigation ...

Exit interviews have been a mainstay of the HR world for years.  They are most often viewed as a means of obtaining insights into employee satisfaction related issues, such as compensation, benefits and work environment.  However, such interviews are a valuable component of a compliance program designed to prevent, detect and stop potential or existing fraudulent or otherwise illegal conduct.  This is especially true in the health care industry.

Why health care?  The media has regular accounts of various types of health care providers being investigated or sued under the False Claims ...

The Supreme Court recently heard arguments on an issue which will have lasting implications on the arbitrability of claims between employers and certain independent contractors. Where the Court lands will have significant impact on employers moving forward, not only with regard to the form of contracts employers offer, but also with regard to how they classify workers in the transportation field.

Currently, the Federal Arbitration Act (the “FAA”) authorizes transportation employers to include mandatory arbitration provisions in employment contracts, which can require ...

The IRS has issued proposed regulations on hardship distributions under section 401(k) and 403(b) plans (“Proposed Regulations”), addressing issues raised by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (“Budget Act”) and the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”). Plan sponsors need to consider administrative and plan amendment changes promptly.

There are two requirements for a permissible hardship distribution:

• The withdrawal must be made due to an immediate and heavy financial need; and
• The amount of the withdrawal must be limited to the amount necessary to satisfy that ...

In October of 2017, we first reported on the filing of a class action suit by a group of Chicago-area employees where plaintiffs alleged that their employer’s use of worker fingerprints for time-tracking purposes violates the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).  Specifically, the employees claimed that their employer failed to properly inform them in writing of the specific purpose for which their fingerprints were being collected and the length of time their fingerprints would be stored. Plaintiffs also claimed the employer failed to obtain written ...

As the holidays are quickly approaching and the hustle and bustle of the end of the year begins, it is important to focus on compliance for 2019. Illinois employers need to ensure that they have the required Illinois postings displayed in their workplaces. The following Illinois posters are required for the designated Illinois employers:

1. NEW Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Poster (Required to be posted by ALL ILLINOIS EMPLOYERS as of September 2018). In addition, employers should review the notice to employers which outlines information about the poster AND the ...

The U.S. District Court in Connecticut recently issued an instructive decision on the ever-increasing practice of emailing employees to notify them of changes to the terms of their employment. Financial services giant Morgan Stanley sent employees an email detailing its new mandatory Convenient Access to Resolutions for Employees (CARE) arbitration program. It reflected an effort by Morgan Stanley to expand mandatory arbitration to all employee disputes including previously exempted statutory discrimination claims. After one employee filed a federal lawsuit for age ...

As we draw closer to the end of 2018, let’s reflect a bit and look forward with purpose.  The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released preliminary FY 2018 sexual harassment data that is consistent with the #MeToo movement:

• Sexual harassment charges increased by more than 12 percent – the first increase in at least eight years;

• EEOC focused on harassment claims and filed 66 harassment lawsuits; and

• EEOC recovered nearly $70 million for sex harassment victims (up from $47.5 million in 2017).

These statistics do not include the many charges that ...

With the dust mostly settled after election night, we can now look at the impact the election will have on employment laws in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin, and at the federal level.

Illinois: The major story in Illinois is the election of J.B. Pritzker as governor.  In short, his election is likely to usher in greater infrastructure spending—including an increase in prevailing wage jobs—and more aggressive enforcement efforts by state agencies charged with regulating employers and protecting employees. Beyond that, minimum wage increases, expansions to ...

On August 28, 2018, Illinois Governor, Bruce Rauner, signed into law the Opioid Alternative Pilot Program which expands and modifies the Illinois Medical Marijuana law in several important ways that are relevant to employers.

First and foremost, the Pilot Program allows doctors to certify if an individual qualifies to use medical marijuana under the Opioid Alternative Pilot Program as an alternative to prescribing opioids (such as Codeine, Norco, Vicodin, Hydrocodone, Demerol, or Percocet). In this day and age, almost any serious injury in which there is surgery or pain issues ...