The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published a final rule amending a regulation regarding the right to designate a representative to accompany OSHA inspectors during a workplace inspection. Why do we need this, you ask?
In the world of occupational safety and hazards, OSHA administers regulations and has the ability to levy penalties.
Everyone has been preparing for the recently enacted Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP Act. Earlier this month the EEOC gave us another reason to make sure our policies are up to snuff. Frontier Airlines and the EEOC reached a settlement on claims filed in 2018 and 2019, which alleged that Frontier discriminates
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (DOL) issued a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that announced they are partnering for the purpose of information sharing and joint investigations. As you know, the EEOC investigates and enforces allegations of discrimination and retaliation under Title
Employers in Alabama (along with the rest of the country) have faced headaches the last several years with staffing shortages and shift coverage. In June, with bipartisan support, the Alabama Legislature passed House Bill 217 — a first-in-the-nation bill to incentivize hourly employees to work overtime. Beginning January 1, 2024, overtime pay will be exempt from
Is your employee handbook a binding contract? A recent case from the Alabama Supreme Court, Davis v. City of Montevallo, says sometimes it is. Many employers issue handbooks to set forth guidelines for what employers expect of employees, and also what employees can expect from their jobs. In at-will employment states, companies think of
With Hurricane Ivan wreaking havoc, our thoughts go to those in the path of the ever-strengthening storm. The first priority for all affected is safety, but severe weather does also raise numerous employment law issues. Employers are again reminded that weather can affect your workplace. With hurricane season underway, we have updated this previously published
Guaranteed confidentiality with regard to employee disputes may be becoming a thing of the past if the current tide of legislation continues. As we blogged about several weeks ago, Congress just banned arbitration agreements for sexual harassment claims. Even more stringent than that new federal legislation, Washington and California have both recently passed a “Silenced
As we are sure you have heard, many people are not all that psyched about the federal government mandating that employees get vaccinated. Just to keep everyone on the same page in these ever-changing times,
The OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard is hot off the presses — now what? Undoubtedly, there will be lots and lots of discussion and legal challenges over the next several days. Although this is not an in-depth analysis, here are the nuts and bolts:
In general, the ETS:
The answer is it depends.
For employers mandating the vaccine, an employee’s refusal to receive it because he or she simply does not want to be vaccinated is likely fair game for termination. Typically, however, an employee will seek a reasonable accommodation that enables him or her not