PLEASE don’t tell your employees which candidate to vote for
This post at the Evil HR Lady Facebook group caught my attention yesterday: Florida company's president warns employees their jobs cou...
Coronavirus Update 10-19-2020: The 10th nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … the callous car dealer
By Jon Hyman
I continue to shake my head at the callousness of employers during this pandemic. Consider this example from The Oregonian , which earns its...
Coronavirus Update 10-16-2020: The benefit of being prepared
By Jon Hyman
When you get the call, you better be prepared. This maxim holds true in business, in the law, and in life in general. Our favorite local w...
What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate
By Jon Hyman
An employee suffers an injury that prevents her from operating a motor vehicle. With no means of transportation to travel to and from her wo...
Coronavirus Update 10-14-2020: Reporting an employee who tests positive
By Jon Hyman
When an employee tests positive, an employer has certain reporting obligations. These obligations fall into two categories—reporting to OSHA...
Coronavirus Update 10-13-2020: You are doing something very, very wrong if your employees are terrified to come to work
By Jon Hyman
According to Deadspin , NFL players are terrified of COVID, but are afraid to speak up for fear of angering the NFL. "I looked at my so...
Why I call myself the 'Master of Workplace Schadenfreude'
By Jon Hyman
If you and I are connected on LinkedIn (and if we're not, please correct that mistake immediately), you may have noticed that my headli...
People I don’t understand
By Jon Hyman
Earlier this week I saw the following (brilliant) ad put out by a group calling itself Dog Lovers For Joe . It reminded me of a list I...
Coronavirus Update 10-8-2020: Crying “discrimination” because you refuse to wear a mask isn’t just silly, it’s offensive
By Jon Hyman
Please watch this short video and then let's talk. Entitled anti-masker says "I am discriminated against every single day in my cou...
Coronavirus Update 10-7-2020: Could White House employees file an OSHA complaint?
By Jon Hyman
Monday night saw President Donald Trump dramatically return to the White House after his three-day stay at Walter Reed Medical Center for CO...
Coronavirus Update 10-6-2020: Fired for COVID-19, or fired for irresponsibility
By Jon Hyman
Prada v. Trifecta Productions , filed a few weeks ago in federal court in Ann Arbor, Michigan, asks whether an employer can legally fire an ...
Coronavirus Update 10-5-2020: Your employees should never learn about positive test from anyone but you
By Jon Hyman
Ninety percent of the [White House] complex most certainly learned about it in the news, as has been the case ever since. There are reports ...
Friday follow-up: Covid quarantine/isolation, politics at work, and crab people
By Jon Hyman
With the shocking news that Donald and Melenia Trump have tested positive for COVID-19 (along with Hope Hicks, one of Trump's top advis...
7 tips to manage political discussions at work
By Jon Hyman
Did you watch the Presidential Debate Tuesday night? Do you think it showcased the best of America? If you do, I think you were tuned to the...
Coronavirus Update 9-30-2020: Covid, hazard pay, and overtime
By Jon Hyman
Wage and hour compliance is complicated enough for employers. Layer a pandemic on top of wage and hour compliance, and you have an absolute ...
Coronavirus Update 9-29-2020: The 9th nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … the covid denier
By Jon Hyman
The human resources manager for a New Hampshire company is suing her former employer after she sent an email about COVID-19 to employees and...
What one debate question would you ask each candidate?
By Jon Hyman
Tomorrow night, a mere 16 miles from my home, President Trump and Vice President Biden will step in front of the cameras to make their respe...
Coronavirus Update 9-25-2020: The show must go on
By Jon Hyman
This year has been challenging for everyone. COVID-19 has forced everyone to be innovative with everything. Case in point, high school theat...
Coronavirus Update 9-24-2020: Comorbidities, Covid-19, and your employees
By Jon Hyman
Let's talk about comorbidities . A comorbidity is the simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient. In the c...
DOL publishes proposed regulations that would make it easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a proposed rule amending its regulations on how to determine whether a worker is an emplo...
“Religious freedom” ≠ freedom to discriminate (but sometimes it must be accommodated anyway)
By Jon Hyman
The EEOC has sued an Arkansas Kroger after it fired two of its employees for allegedly objecting to its new dress code that required employe...
Coronavirus Update 9-21-2020: the CDC continues to create a mess for employers on testing; and a word on RBG
By Jon Hyman
Last Friday, the CDC yet again updated its guidance for COVID-19 testing. If you're keeping count, this is the CDC's fifth set of te...
Coronavirus Update 9-18-2020: advocacy for others as protected conduct under the ADA
By Jon Hyman
In Kirilenko-Ison v. Board of Education of Danville Independent Schools , the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employee who engages...
Coronavirus Update 9-17-2020: The pandemic plight of working moms
By Jon Hyman
There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on employees. A recent report published by Policy Matters Ohio illustrates just...
Coronavirus Update 9-16-2020: Federal court holds state indefinite Covid-closure orders are unconstitutional
By Jon Hyman
In County of Butler v. Wolf , Judge William S. Stickman IV of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (a r...
Coronavirus Update 9-15-2020: Is your business ready for the coming “tidal wave” of COVID-19 employee lawsuits?
By Jon Hyman
A Texas man sues, claiming he wasn't allowed to keep teleworking after the office reopened A Kentucky worker sues after being fired for ...
Coronavirus Update 9-14-2020: DOL issues revised FFCRA regulations; what’s changed and what hasn’t?
By Jon Hyman
In early August, a New York federal district court judge issued an order invaliding several key provisions in the DOL's FFCRA regulatio...
Coronavirus Update 9-11-2020: The anatomy of a losing legal argument
By Jon Hyman
Deborah Kofler worked for Sayde Steeves Cleaning Service as a residential and commercial cleaner. Beginning on April 1, Kofler requested pai...
Coronavirus Update 9-10-2020: The coming wave of Covid-related age discrimination lawsuits
By Jon Hyman
The EEOC has sued Ohio State University for age discrimination, alleging that the school discriminated against a 53-year-old human resourc...
Coronavirus Update 9-9-2020: The 8th nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … 🎶 it’s corona after all 🎶
By Jon Hyman
It's a world of sickness A world of tears It's a world of death And a world of fears There's so much that we share That it...
Diversity training is the opposite of “anti-American"
By Jon Hyman
Late last week, Russell Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, issued a memo directing that from this point forward,...
Coronavirus Update 9-4-2020: “Normal"
By Jon Hyman
Last Saturday, for one glorious evening, I felt "normal." I dined out at a restaurant for the first time in nearly six months. Col...
Coronavirus Update 9-3-2020: County health department fires five for quarantine order violation
By Jon Hyman
Erie County, Ohio, has fired five health department employees for violating a quarantine order. What happened? Fox 8 provides the details : ...
Coronavirus Update 9-2-2020: Ohio set to activate COVID-19 liability shield for businesses
By Jon Hyman
Both houses of Ohio's legislature have passed legislation that will grant a liability shield to businesses for claims related to COVID-1...
Coronavirus Update 9-1-2020: Vaccines — can an employer require them; should an employer require them?
By Jon Hyman
There are currently more than two dozen COVID-19 vaccines in development world wide, as pharmaceutical companies race to perfect a viable va...
Coronavirus Update 8-28-2020: New music Friday / Old 97’s, “Twelfth”
By Jon Hyman
"You know that feeling when you reunite with an old friend and it feels like nothing's changed? That feeling of comfort and camara...
A pisser of an invasion-of-privacy case: Ohio Supreme Court find no cause of action when employer watches an employee give a urine sample for a drug test
By Jon Hyman
Is the privacy of an at-will private-sector employee invaded when a representative of the employer watches him or her give a urine sample fo...
Coronavirus Update 8-26-2020: New DOL guidance explains employers’ obligation to track compensable telework time
By Jon Hyman
With more employees working from home than ever before (thanks to COVID-19), employers are facing the new reality of tracking working time f...
Coronavirus Update 8-25-2020: This example of WFH is WTF
By Jon Hyman
Alison Green, who pens the super engaging and helpful Ask A Manager blog, reached out to me to help with a reader question . You should jum...
Coronavirus Update 8-21-2020: Back to school
By Jon Hyman
Today is my kids' first day of school. Not virtual school. Not distanced learning. Not a hybrid model. In-person school. I just returned...
BLM vs. MAGA at work
By Jon Hyman
Depending on your political perspective, Goodyear is either being praised or criticized after this slide from diversity training at its Top...
Coronavirus Update 8-19-2020: Government watchdog says OSHA whistleblower claims up, investigations down during pandemic
By Jon Hyman
According to a report released yesterday by the Office of Inspector General, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA has been floode...
Coronavirus Update 8-18-2020: Phishing attacks are yet another COVID-19 issue that needs to be on your radar
By Jon Hyman
According to the Detroit Free Press , cybercriminals are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to try to access people's computers and steal ...
Coronavirus Update 8-17-2020: COVID-19 and protected concerted activity
By Jon Hyman
Let's suppose you're a health care organization that terminates an employee after the employee refuses to wear a shared isolation go...
Coronavirus Update 8-14-2020: Just call me Bob Villa
By Jon Hyman
If you would have told me six months ago that I'd spend my summer building useful things out of wood, I'd have asked if you were dru...
Coronavirus Update 8-13-2020: The 7th nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … the no-mask mandator
By Jon Hyman
Meet Billy Woods , the sheriff of Marion County, Florida. He loves youth ranches and senior services, and hates face masks. Earlier this wee...
Coronavirus Update 8-12-2020: Elevator anxiety
By Jon Hyman
Has COVID-19 caused you to have elevator anxiety, as in a fear of being inside of a 7' x 5' box with other people? According to a no...
Coronavirus Update 8-11-2020: States should follow Illinois’ lead in making it a felony to assault an employee over a mask rule
By Jon Hyman
Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster … and assault? Sesame Place is the latest employer to have an employee assaulted for trying to enforce a ma...
Coronavirus Update 8-10-2020: Indians quarantine of pitcher Zach Plesac is a teachable moment in handling irresponsible employees during this pandemic
By Jon Hyman
The Cleveland Indians have sent pitcher Zach Plesac back to Cleveland from their current run of road games for breaking the team's COVID...
Coronavirus Update 8-7-2020: Errata — CDC changes guidance on when someone can break COVID-19 isolation
By Jon Hyman
Neil deGrasse Tyson once said , "I love being wrong because that means in that instant, I learned something new that day." Earlier...
Coronavirus Update 8-6-2020: Congress must pass the Save Our Stages Act #saveourstages
By Jon Hyman
Today I'm taking a brief detour from the employment-law implications of COVID-19 to discuss an issue near and dear to my heart—the devas...
Coronavirus Update 8-5-2020: Who pays for employer mandated COVID-19 tests?
By Jon Hyman
The inevitable has happened. One of your employees has tested positive for COVID-19. You do what you're supposed to do . You clean and s...
Coronavirus Update 8-4-2020: NY federal judge invalidates key parts of FFCRA regulations
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, a New York federal judge issued an order invalidating several key aspects of the Department of Labor's regulations interpret...
Coronavirus Update 8-3-2020: How have employers responded to COVID-19?
By Jon Hyman
A recent survey of businesses reveals a variety of trends about COVID-19 in the workplace. Nearly 6 out of every 10 employers has had an e...
Coronavirus Update 7-31-2020: 41,214 reasons not to fire employees who request FFCRA leave
By Jon Hyman
A San Jose, California, manufacturer has reached an agreement with the Department of Labor's Wage & Hour Division to pay 17 employee...