Labor & Employment Law Update

The Equal Pay Act can create significant exposure for employers, if not considered when setting female employees’ wages – especially if you are relying upon a female applicant’s prior salary history and there is a difference in the pay of similar male employees.

The Equal Pay Act is dangerous for employers because plaintiffs are not required to prove discriminatory intent by the employer. All a plaintiff must show is that there is a wage disparity for equal work requiring the same skill, effort and responsibility, which is performed under similar working conditions. Once a ...

In April 2018, the US Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division, launched  the six-month pilot Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program which provides a voluntary framework for employers to self-report potential FLSA overtime and minimum wage violations to the DOL and to resolve those violations without incurring additional penalties or liquidated damages. There are important benefits (and potential risks) to consider before signing up for PAID:

• The benefit of the program is that if an employer self-reports, the DOL will only require the employer to pay back ...

On April 2, 2018 in the matter of Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, No. 16-1362, 2018 WL 1568025 (U.S. Apr. 2, 2018), the Supreme Court rejected the long held principle that exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) should be construed narrowly and found that car dealership service advisors are exempt from the FLSA’s overtime-pay requirement. In a 5-4 decision, the Court held there was no reason or basis under the FLSA to narrowly interpret FLSA exemptions and that exemptions should be read equally as any other provision of the Act.

Impact – Car dealerships can ...

Back in November we reported on a federal judge ordering several members of management to turn over messages from their personal email accounts and counseled employers to be proactive in managing employees’ use of personal email for company business. The guidance set forth there rings true for text messages and other forms of electronic communication (e.g. WhatsApp, Slack, Trello and myriad others) as well.

As we explained in our prior post “document production” encompasses not only “documents” in the traditional sense, but all relevant information “stored in ...

When it comes to employee bonuses, employers often prefer “discretionary” bonus policies—as opposed to more rigid and definite policies and procedures that answer the questions of “who” is eligible to receive bonuses, “when” bonuses will be paid, and “how much” the bonuses will be.

A problem can arise, however, when the underlying method the employer uses to award bonuses remains consistent from year to year.  Under Illinois law, for example, past practice—even in a non-union setting—can give rise to a legally-enforceable expectation that a given ...

Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held—for the first time—that discrimination based on transgender and transitioning status violates Title VII. Although the court has previously held that discriminating against transgender employees because of gender non-conforming behaviors constitutes gender stereotyping in violation of Title VII, this decision takes it one step further—protecting all transgender and transitioning employees regardless of any outwardly observable behaviors or characteristics.

In EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris ...

A dangerous misunderstanding persists in the business community that an employer can choose to “1099” its workers, or classify them as independent contractors, so long as there is an agreement between the employer and employee and both are satisfied with the arrangement. This misguided belief can have dire consequences if blindly followed.

When a worker is classified as an independent contractor, the employer is not liable for federal tax withholding, payment of state unemployment tax, maintaining workers compensation insurance or compliance with state and federal wage ...

Just last week on February 26^th, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in Janus v. AFSCME, a case in the Court’s 2017 term with a potential of adversely impacting the viability and influence of public sector unions.  The case, originating in the seventh circuit with Judge Richard Posner, involves an appeal over the dismissal of a complaint that sought to invalidate agency fees and to reverse the Supreme Court’s 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education.

Janus is the latest case to reach the Supreme Court challenging the 40 year precedent set ...

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) is responsible for the enforcement of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1975 (ERISA). EBSA recently announced that, in 2017, by enforcing ERISA, it restored $1.1 billion to employee benefit plans. Of this amount, about 60% was from civil investigations and 40% from informal complaint resolutions.

Of course, the flip side of $1.1 billion going to employee benefit plans is $1.1 billion paid by employers, fiduciaries and their insurers.

This announcement from EBSA appeared roughly ...

What happens when you combine Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase? Apparently, a new nonprofit health care company. That was the news last month when the three companies announced that they are forming their own health care company to increase transparency for their employees.

Anyone involved with employee benefits knows that one of the most dreaded moments annually is getting the renewal quote for the health benefit plans. The quote starts the agonizing dance of trying to get the astronomical increase to a manageable number while calming the budgeting folks ...