The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) may not be the first employment law that comes to mind when an employer wants to reduce legal risks and avoid potential pitfalls. However, the FCRA has a number of requirements that employers must follow when obtaining background checks. As one recent case highlights, these requirements are important to
Update: The EEOC voted 2-1 along party lines to rescind the 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace in its entirety. The EEOC’s objections to the guidance primarily related to the sections of the guidance regarding harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including with respect to preferred pronouns and bathroom access. However
While the EEOC had a quiet 2025 due to its lack of a quorum (only two of five commissioners) and the lengthy government shutdown, there is potential change on the horizon. One area of interest for the EEOC is its Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace issued in 2024. We blogged about that 2024
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division welcomed the new year by issuing six new opinion letters on January 5, 2026 — four regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and two regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). As background, opinion letters explain how the DOL applies federal employment laws
We’ve all been there: An employee takes time off (think FMLA or other protected leave), and then you need to take an adverse employment action. Can you do so and risk the inevitable retaliation claim? Do you have to wait some amount of time so the employee’s potentially protected activity isn’t so fresh on everyone’s
At some point, every employer will need to investigate an employee’s complaint. An investigation is an important tool that employers can use to fix a workplace problem and minimize liability. Or, an investigation can create extra risk for employers over and above the risk of the original workplace issue. That extra risk arises when an
Workplace violence is an issue that impacts employees and employers alike. While OSHA uses the General Duty Clause to address such issues, some states are enacting their own laws about it. As we reported a few weeks ago, Texas recently enacted a new law to protect healthcare employees from violence in the workplace. The