Labor & Employment Law Update

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 ...

On Tuesday November 6^th, slightly over five weeks after hearing oral arguments, the Supreme Court, by an 8-0 vote, ruled that small government units are covered under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) regardless of their size.  In so doing, the Supreme Court resolved a circuit court split between the 9^th Circuit and the 6^th, 7^th, 8^th and 10^th Circuits, where the latter courts ruled that the ADEA’s requirement of at least 20 employees for coverage of private-sector employers also applied to state and local governments.

In Guido v. Mount Lemmon Fire District, the ...

It’s that time again: Election Season. Employers must be aware of important legal issues when responding or reacting to politics in the workplace, as well as understanding workers’ rights to engage in the political process. This article provides key reminders to public and private employers to manage the workplace without accidentally violating relevant laws.

Imposing a blanket ban on political discussions may run afoul of the NLRA.         

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which applies to private unionized and non-unionized workplaces, protects non-supervisory ...

A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois sheds light on how to determine what job tasks are properly considered essential functions of a position under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). A plaintiff alleging that her employer denied her a reasonable accommodation for her disability must prove that she is a qualified individual, which requires showing that she can perform all the essential functions of the job with or without an accommodation. In the recent decision, the court dismissed a police officer’s failure to ...

Effective January 1, 2019, the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act requires employers to reimburse “necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee within the employee’s scope of employment and directly related to services performed for the employer.”

Here’s what you need to know now to prepare

While the law requires reimbursement of expenses which are for the primary benefit of the employer, employers are not responsible for expenses due to (i) the employee’s negligence, (ii) normal wear, or (iii) theft (unless the theft was the result of the ...

On October 11, 2018, OSHA issued an additional memorandum to further clarify its position on incentive programs and drug testing. While the memorandum does not set out drastic changes to OSHA’s earlier rule and guidance, it does indicate that OSHA will take a more practical approach to incentive programs and drug testing than previously indicated.

With regard to incentive programs, it indicates that traditional incentive programs based on a lack of injuries during a particular time period will not be deemed violative of OSHA if the employer has measures in place to ...

Reasonable accommodation issues often require an employer to balance the needs of the employee requesting accommodation with the needs of other employees who are impacted by the decision. These issues can be magnified when an employee relies on a service dog. Most employers are unfamiliar with the issue, and courts and enforcement agencies provide little guidance on service dogs in the employment context. As a result, when the issue arises, many employers scramble to answer the most basic questions: Are we required to allow a service dog in the workplace? What if another employee ...

On August 13, 2018, as part of the John S. McCain Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, President Trump signed into law the Main Street Employee Ownership Act, which was originally introduced by Senator Gillibrand and Representative Velazquez, a rare bipartisan achievement.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are often established using a loan to finance the purchase of company stock by the plan. ESOPs only infrequently default, so this is an area in which the government can be confident that the taxpayers will get their money back. The Small Business ...