WIRTW #118
The big story that I missed this week is the refocused Congressional attention on the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act on Capitol Hill...
Playing 20 questions with the employee versus contractor distinction
By Jon Hyman
As reported by the Washington DC Employment Law Update , the Treasury Department and Department of Labor have been jointly charged to elimin...
Who is Craig Becker and why should you care?
By Jon Hyman
Craig Becker is President Obama’s nominee to the National Labor Relations Board. He is also the Associate General Counsel of the Service Emp...
Avoiding shifting explanations avoids claim of pretext
By Jon Hyman
Rep. Eric Massa resigned from Congress last week. Depending on the interview and the day, he either resigned: for health reasons, because of...
Hot off the press: 6th Circuit holds that discrimination laws apply to a teacher at a religious school
By Jon Hyman
Certain employees of religious institutions are exempted from employment discrimination laws under what is known as the “ministerial excepti...
Sniffing out the dangers of the new ADA
By Jon Hyman
OnPoint News and Overlawyered report that the City of Detroit has settled a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by an employee with ...
WIRTW #117
By Jon Hyman
One story I missed this week was the extension of the federal and Ohio COBRA subsidies. These bloggers, however, are picking up the slack:...
It’s time to bring Ohio’s discrimination law in line with its federal counterparts
By Jon Hyman
At Jottings By An Employer’s Lawyer, Michael Fox discusses pending legislation in Missouri that would bring that state’s employment discrim...
Employers often don’t stand alone in lawsuits – let’s talk about manager and supervisor liability
By Jon Hyman
Ohio’s discrimination law is quirky when compared to its federal counterparts. For one thing, an Ohio employee does not need to exhaust his ...
Do you know? The duty of loyalty: illegal competition vs. legal preparation
By Jon Hyman
There are right ways and wrong ways for an employee to leave your company. Just because an employee is not subject to a noncompetition agre...
Is it wrong to “friend” your boss on Facebook?
By Jon Hyman
Mashable reports on a recent survey conducted by Liberty Mutual’s Responsibility Project, in which 56% of Americans reported that “it’s ‘i...
WIRTW #116
By Jon Hyman
This morning on The Proactive Employer I had an engaging chat with Stephanie Thomas on the topic of statistics and reduction in force. To l...
Access to federal court just got a little bit easier for corporations
By Jon Hyman
Employers like to be in federal court. According to a recent study by the American Constitution Society , plaintiffs only win 15% of the tim...
Calculating the rolling 12-month FMLA leave entitlement
By Jon Hyman
As I’ve previously discussed, the FMLA allows for 4 different ways for employers to calculate its employees’ 12-week leave entitlement: ...
Do you know? Administrative employees vs. the administrative exemption
By Jon Hyman
Nothing in employment law has a more misleading name than the administrative exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act. Employers routinely ...
How to avoid employee lawsuits (in 4 easy steps)
By Jon Hyman
Today’s Wall Street Journal offers the following three tips to small business owners to avoid lawsuits by employees: Classify employee...
WIRTW #115
By Jon Hyman
This week, the EEOC published proposed regulation on the reasonable factors other than age defense under the ADEA. The regulations (avail...
Ohio’s efforts to create its own WARN Act hit all the wrong notes
By Jon Hyman
Ohio House Bill 434 – which would require employers to give advanced notice of mass layoffs, worksite closings, and transfers of operation ...
“Sue first” mentality costs EEOC $4.5 million in sanctions, yet I question whether this is a good thing
By Jon Hyman
Shoot first and ask questions later, and don't worry, no matter what happens, I will protect you. —Hermann Goering In EEOC v....
Do you know? Unsupervised waivers of federal wage and hour claims
By Jon Hyman
Generally, courts recognize only two ways for an individual to release or settle a claim for unpaid wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act...
6 universal truths about avoiding retaliation liability
By Jon Hyman
According to French philosopher Albert Camus, “Retaliation is related to nature and instinct, not to law. Law, by definition, cannot obey th...
WIRTW #114
By Jon Hyman
The big story this week is the Senate's successful blockage of NLRB nominee Craig Becker. Becker was potentially dangerous for businesse...
Let your actions speak louder than your employees’ harassing words
By Jon Hyman
Perhaps no single act can more quickly alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment than the use of an un...
Do you have a severe weather policy?
By Jon Hyman
I laugh at the east coast’s ongoing snow woes because (a) I grew up in Philadelphia, (b) my family is still there, and (c) last week notwit...
Do you know? Why statistics are so important in reduction in force cases
By Jon Hyman
For the past week, I’ve been examining the use of statistics in workforce reduction discrimination cases ( 6th Circuit downgrades importance...