Coronavirus Update 4-26-2021: Another reason not to mandate the Covid vaccine for employees
I've not hidden my belief that employers should not be mandating that their employees receive the Covid vaccine as a condition of emplo...
Coronavirus Update 4-22-2021: The SBA has one pandemic job, and it failed @nivassoc #saveourstages
By Jon Hyman
On April 8, the Small Business Association opened its Covid relief program for concert halls and other performing arts venues. Or at least...
Coronavirus Update 4-21-2021, part 2: Does President Biden read my blog?
By Jon Hyman
I've previously urged employers to pay employees for time off related to getting the Covid vaccine and for any time related to adverse r...
Coronavirus Update 4-21-2021: Most Americans that haven’t yet gotten the Covid vaccine don’t plan to … and that’s a huge problem
By Jon Hyman
According to a recent Axios-Ipsos poll , vaccination efforts may have plateaued, and most people who've not yet been vaccinated don'...
We learn more from our failures than our successes
By Jon Hyman
A couple of months ago I was approached by the That One Case podcast to record an episode. This show asks lawyers to share the story of one...
How to identify and handle an employee at risk for workplace violence
By Jon Hyman
It's been four days since Brandon Hole returned to the Indianapolis FedEx facility at which previously worked and killed eight people. ...
Coronavirus Update 4-15-2021: OSHA finally gets real about Covid safety
By Jon Hyman
Consider the following Covid safety and health violations OSHA recently uncovered at a Massachusetts tax preparation business. Employees and...
DOL reopens the floodgate to liquidated damages in wage and hour investigations
By Jon Hyman
The Department of Labor's breakup with liquidated damages in wage and hour investigations lasted only four years. Late last week, the ag...
The top 11 things you need to know about being sued by an (ex) employee
By Jon Hyman
Because of the impending changes to Ohio's workplace discrimination law that take effect in two days, the filing of employment discrimi...
Coronavirus Update 4-12-2021: It’s time to end pandemic PTO hesitancy
By Jon Hyman
I haven't taken a proper vacation in 25 months. We were supposed to go to Portugal last March, but then Covid happened. In the 13 months...
Coronavirus Update 4-9-2021: Income tax season has exacerbated the ongoing Covid plague of unemployment fraud
By Jon Hyman
One of the lasting lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic for businesses is our broken state unemployment systems. State governments have paid out...
Title VII and “fringe" religions
By Jon Hyman
"A pagan says she faced religious discrimination while working at Panera. Now, she’s suing." So reads the headline at the Washing...
6th Circuit applies False Claim Act’s anti-retaliation protections to ex-employees
By Jon Hyman
In the history of this blog's 3,603 posts, I've never written about the False Claim Act. If you've been waiting with bated breat...
Coronavirus Update 4-6-2021: Is work from home not all it’s cracked up to be?
By Jon Hyman
Three weeks ago I returned to the office. That return matched my start date at Wickens Herzer Panza . I decided that it'd be difficult,...
Coronavirus Update 4-5-2021: The Covid lawsuits are coming
By Jon Hyman
Thirteen months into the pandemic, the COVID-related employment lawsuits are starting to roll into courthouses. Consider the following, all ...
No foolin': the most meaningful changes to Ohio's employment discrimination law take effect in two weeks
By Jon Hyman
Two weeks from today, H.B. 352 takes effect and brings the most significant changes to Ohio's workplace discrimination statute since it...
Coronavirus Update 3-31-2021: Covid-19 vaccination cards will be required to do lots of things, including possibly even working
By Jon Hyman
According to the Wall Street Journal , Covid-19 vaccination cards are our only proof of vaccination status and will soon be as essential as ...
Let's meet employees where they are on their pronouns
By Jon Hyman
In Meriwether v. Hartop , the 6th Circuit recently decided that a state university cannot force a professor to use students' preferred g...
Supporting our AAPI employees in their time of crisis
By Jon Hyman
The stats are jarring, disturbing, and scary. During the past year of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been nearly 3,800 reported anti-Asia...
Coronavirus Update 3-26-2021: 5 Considerations for Drafting Your COVID-19 Vaccination Policy
By Jon Hyman
At some point over the next several months, most of your employees will receive one of the various COVID-19 vaccines that the Food & Dr...
Coronavirus Update 3-25-2021: Ohio legislature foolishly and dangerously limits the authority of the governor to respond to public health crises
By Jon Hyman
"I can tell, as you're smirking at me not wearing a mask, you are not good at public health. This is not your lane, you need to g...
Coronavirus Update 3-24-2021: Which of your employees should you bring back to work
By Jon Hyman
For the past year, an astounding 44 percent of employees have been working remotely full time, and two-thirds of employees have been working...
The 7th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the penny pincher
By Jon Hyman
The law of every state I can think of requires that an employer timely provide a departed employee with his or her last paycheck. I know of ...
Coronavirus Update 3-22-2021: Covidiots at Whole Foods
By Jon Hyman
"I'm Jewish; I don't have to wear a mask." That's what the maskless woman (shopping with her maskless teenage daughter...
Coronavirus Update 3-19-2021: CDC is now recommending COVID-19 screening tests of asymptomatic employees of certain employers
By Jon Hyman
The CDC is now recommending that certain non-healthcare employers test asymptomatic employees for COVID-19. According to the CDC, this scre...
Coronavirus Update 3-18-2021: Employers facing lawsuits for failing to pay for pre-shift Covid screenings
By Jon Hyman
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I asked this question : "Are employers legally responsible for paying workers for the time...
Coronavirus Update 3-17-2021: CDC allows large employers to establish vaccination sites
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, the CDC released guidance permitting large employers to establish temporary sites to vaccinate employees. The CDC says that emp...
The 6th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the deportation threatener
By Jon Hyman
Full disclosure — I love Tate's Bake Shop's gluten free cookies. Prior to gluten free Oreos hitting supermarket shelves (I dare you ...
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
By Jon Hyman
Today brings BIG changes for my career and me. It's my first day of work at Wickens Herzer Panza after relocating my practice and joini...
Coronavirus Update 3-12-2021: What does the American Rescue Plan mean for employers?
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 , aka the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill. It's the most signific...
Coronavirus Update 3-11-2021: Happy 1st Birthday COVID-19 Pandemic
By Jon Hyman
It's been exactly one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Tomorrow will mark the one-year anni...
Coronavirus Update 3-10-2021: John Oliver on unemployment
By Jon Hyman
One of the lasting lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic is that our state unemployment systems are old and broken, and desperately need to be mo...
Coronavirus Update 3-9-2021: CDC says fully vaccinated people can safely visit fully vaccinated Grandma (but still have to keep wearing masks at work)
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, the CDC issued its long-awaited guidance on how fully vaccinated people can safely visit others . Here's who and how the CDC...
Coronavirus Update 3-8-2021: Local judge in hot water over “China Virus” comments
By Jon Hyman
Rule number one of this blog has always been, "Don't criticize judges whom you might appear in front of." Rules, however, are ...
Coronavirus Update 3-4-2021: Please pay your employees for time off related to the Covid vaccine
By Jon Hyman
Earlier this week, the House passed an extension of the FFCRA as part of its $1.9 trillion Covid stimulus bill. (I'll cover its details ...
Coronavirus Update 3-3-2021: As states lift mask mandates, remember that the law is always a floor and not a ceiling
By Jon Hyman
I just announced Texas is OPEN 100%. EVERYTHING. I also ended the statewide mask mandate. — Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 2, 2021 With...
The 5th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the safety ignorer
By Jon Hyman
Nine days before Christmas, one of my neighbors posted the following on my community's Facebook page. Any prayer warriors on here, pleas...
Coronavirus Update 3-1-2021: If “doing the right thing” doesn’t motivate you to take COVID-19 safety seriously, then consider the impact on your business if you don’t
By Jon Hyman
The sign on the door of Platform Beer's Columbus, Ohio, taproom reads: "The entire Platform Columbus crew has quit. The taproom is ...
Coronavirus Update 2-26-2021: Adaptability
By Jon Hyman
Adaptability to change is itself a hallmark of successful education. – Peter Hilton 2020 – 2021 has been a different school year for every...
The 4th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the socially distant mass discharger
By Jon Hyman
Repeat after me. Thou shalt only fire people in person, and never by phone call, email, or text message. If, because of COVID-19, you absolu...
Coronavirus Update 2-24-2021: How much does it cost an employer for not following COVID-19 safety rules?
By Jon Hyman
OSHA has cited a Missouri auto parts manufacturer for failing to implement and enforce coronavirus protections, which ultimately lead to an ...
Coronavirus Update 2-23-2021: John Oliver tackles Covid and other safety issues in the meat packing industry
By Jon Hyman
Last year I nominated Tyson Foods for 2020's Worst Employer because some of its managers started a cash buy-in betting pool on which of ...
Coronavirus Update 2-22-2021: Get ready for the glut of Covid whistleblower tag-along claims
By Jon Hyman
The headline reads, "Ex-Manager Sues Ample Hills in Lawsuit Alleging Harassment and Unsafe COVID-19 Protocols" (emphasis mine). H...
The number one reason not to have a labor union
By Jon Hyman
You would think that an employee who purposely defecates on the workplace floor in an act of revenge against his boss and then brags about i...
How do you define success?
By Jon Hyman
This week I had the pleasure of guesting on Pat Perry 's Success Wave podcast . During our half-hour-plus conversation, Pat and I discus...
Pop culture as a means to break down inherent biases and prejudiced divides
By Jon Hyman
Think about it. If you want to know where the American public is, look at the money being spent on advertising. Did you ever five years ago ...
Coronavirus Update 2-16-2021: Are you monitoring your remote employees?
By Jon Hyman
According to this article at Wirecutter.com, employers are using the COVID-19 pandemic as a justification to enhance their monitoring of em...
Coronavirus Update 2-15-2021: CDC updates quarantine guidelines for vaccinated individuals
By Jon Hyman
Must individuals who are fully vaccinated ( i.e. , have received both vaccine doses) against COVID-19 quarantine if they have been in close ...
Coronavirus Update 2-12-2021: Doctor wrongly fired for doing the right thing with expiring COVID vaccine dose
By Jon Hyman
"Ten doses of the Covid-19 vaccine would expire within hours, so a Houston doctor gave it to people with medical conditions, including ...
Coronavirus Update 2-11-2021: CDC updates its masking guidelines; should you do the same for your business?
By Jon Hyman
The CDC just updated its masking guidelines , now recommending that individuals wear two masks—a well-fitting surgical mask underneath a clo...
“I’m here live. I am not a cat.”
By Jon Hyman
If you were on the internet yesterday, you likely came across the story of the lawyer who accidentally presented as cat during a Zoom court ...
Coronavirus Update 2-9-2021: Time off for the COVID-19 vaccine
By Jon Hyman
At some point over the next few months, some (most?) of your employees will receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Depending on the rules of your sta...
Have you felt the pain of a wage/hour investigation or lawsuit?
By Jon Hyman
For the past three years, the Department of Labor has been trying to get employees PAID for their unpaid overtime and minimum wages. That...
Podcast recommendation: The Test Kitchen
By Jon Hyman
I'm always on the lookout for new podcasts to add to my queue. Today's is a doozy. It's called The Test Kitchen , and it comes f...
No, you don’t get to keep your paid leave after your position is eliminated
By Jon Hyman
The headline reads, "Trump aides made a late request to Team Biden to extend their parental leave. They said no." Here's the ...
Coronavirus Update 2-3-2021: Have you had to deal with “COVID fraud” in your workplace?
By Jon Hyman
According to Vice , people are using photo editing software to doctor COVID test results. "I just fired up photoshop and changed the da...
Coronavirus Update 2-2-2021: As new COVID-19 variants doubling down on transmissibility, OSHA doubles down on prevenative measures
By Jon Hyman
"Wear a mask and stay 6 feel apart." It might sound like Groundhog Day to keep repeating this mantra. It's also the most basic...
How many N-words create a hostile work environment?
By Jon Hyman
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to answer these questions : Whether an employee's exposure to the N-word in the workplace is...
New Music Friday: “Wish I Was Ur Guitar,” by norah marie
By Jon Hyman
Welcome back to New Music Friday. Today, I'm so happy to share my 14-year-old daughter's first-ever single, "Wish I Was Ur Guit...
I applaud any company that takes a stand in support of democracy
By Jon Hyman
Meet Bob Unanue, the (for now) CEO of Goya Foods. Here he is talking to Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business. Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue tells Mar...