Employers need to be on the lookout for instances of offensive employee speech, which may put them between a rock and a hard place as they navigate potential claims under either anti-discrimination laws or federal labor laws. You have probably heard that Google terminated an employee earlier this month for saying (among other things) that … Continue Reading
Can you look at an employee’s personal email account if you access it on company equipment? A recent opinion from the federal District Court of Maryland should at least make you think twice before doing that. In Levin, et al. v. ImpactOffice, the court denied a company’s motion to dismiss a former employee’s Stored Communication Act … Continue Reading
Just how much can you regulate a public employee’s off-duty conduct? In an interesting and rather frank opinion, the Fifth Circuit found a sheriff’s department could regulate deputies’ private conduct pretty broadly. In Brandon Coker and Michael Golden v. Julian Whittington and Charles Owens, two Louisiana sheriff’s deputies (Coker and Golden) were terminated for moving … Continue Reading
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in to support the NLRB’s finding that an employee’s profanity-ridden social media posting about his employer (and his employer’s mother) was not so offensive that it went beyond the protections of the NLRA for union-related activity. This decision again shows the wide latitude given to employees to engage … Continue Reading
New York City will soon become the third jurisdiction to enact laws barring employers from asking a job applicant about former salaries. The goal? To eliminate one of the alleged sources of wage disparities between men and women in the workforce. NYC’s actions come on the heels of legislation in Massachusetts and Philadelphia. The new … Continue Reading
Dress codes—a helpful workplace rule or a trap for the unwary? A recent Forbes article (High Heels and Workplace Dress Codes: Urgent Action Needed, Say U.K. MPs) relates the story of Nicola Thorp, who was sent home from her receptionist job at an accounting firm in London because she was not wearing at least a … Continue Reading
Setting a new employee’s pay based on what he or she made at a prior job is a fairly common practice—but now an illegal one in Philadelphia, PA. You heard right, Philadelphia has banned questions about salary history. This local law follows a Massachusetts law (similar but not identical) aimed at closing the pay gap … Continue Reading
The NLRB wants to stop class action waivers in employment arbitration agreements, arguing they violate the National Labor Relations Act. This issue has been raging for several years and divided federal courts. As reported in our November 2, 2015, blog post, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a class action waiver in the important Murphy Oil … Continue Reading
Could a “right to disconnect” become law in the U.S.? France is trying it. Effective January 1, a new French law went into effect giving workers a “right to disconnect” when not at work. French employers with 50 or more employees have to adopt written policies restricting the hours that workers can send or receive … Continue Reading
The 2016 election is just days away—do you know your obligations when it comes to employees who want time off to vote during the workday? In some states employers must provide employees voting leave, while in other states, like Florida, Mississippi, and North Carolina, there is no such law on the books. Voting leave laws … Continue Reading
