While I’d like to believe that every post I’ve ever written is indelibly embossed on the brain of every person that’s ever read my blog, I understand that readers come and go, and not everyone reads or recalls every post. As a result, sometimes it makes sense to dive into the archives to revisit a timely (and timeless) post of yesteryear.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
From the archives: Santa’s Employee Handbook
While I’d like to believe that every post I’ve ever written is indelibly embossed on the brain of every person that’s ever read my blog, I understand that readers come and go, and not everyone reads or recalls every post. As a result, sometimes it makes sense to dive into the archives to revisit a timely (and timeless) post of yesteryear.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Take a gander at my recent cyber security webinar
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Friday, December 16, 2016
WIRTW #442 (the “Good with God” edition)
Any week my favorite band—the Old 97’s—release new music is a week to be celebrated. (I know, Old 97’s music two Fridays in row. Deal with it or read something else today).
I’ll let Rolling Stone do the heavy lifting:
“I’m good with God. I wonder how she feels about me?”
So ends the chorus of the Old 97’s’ “Good With God,” the lead single from the band’s 11th album, Graveyard Whistling. Due February 24th, the album offers up another boozy blast of Texas twang, train-beat percussion and guitar grit from Rhett Miller and company, who recorded its 11 songs in the same border-town studio that spawned the group’s major-label debut, Too Far to Care, two decades earlier.
With their original four-piece lineup still intact, the Old 97’s welcome a new face into the fold with “Good With God,” whose titular omniscient character is played by Brandi Carlile. The two trade vocal duties throughout, with Carlile’s voice bathed in plenty of godly reverb. The result is an ominous, off-kilter duet between Miller and his maker, driven forward at highway speed by bandmates Philip Peeples, Murry Hammond, and Ken Bethea.You can pre-order the new album, Graveyard Whistling, here (CD, digital, or four different colors of vinyl). Why wait for it’s official release on February 24? They are good musicians and better people that deserve for their music to be purchased, not streamed. And, look for the band to roll though your town in the Spring and Summer. They are a live act not to be missed.
Here’s what I read this week.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Thursday, December 15, 2016
When a self-fondling supervisor earns the nickname “Mr. Bojangles,” it’s not going to end well
The EEOC reports that it has sued Goodwill Industries of the East Bay Area for sexual harassment and disability discrimination, following allegations made by disabled female nightshift janitors against their supervisor. The allegations are … disturbing:
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Santa Claus and child labor laws
While I was watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with my family something struck me. The elves working in Santa’s Workshop manufacturing the toys looked awfully young. Is it possible that the North Pole lacks child labor laws? Is this how Santa keeps his costs down? After all, he needs toys for more than half a billion children.
So, what are Ohio’s child labor laws?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Ohio set to maintain stable statewide minimum wage
Sub. S.B. 331 [pdf] is a reaction to efforts of the “Fight for 15” movement to create piecemeal minimum wage increases city by city. Recall that earlier this year, Ohio’s attorney general issued an advisory opinion that a municipal ordinance may not require an employer to by a to pay its employees an hourly minimum wage rate that is in excess of the statewide hourly minimum wage rate,which is fixed by Ohio’s Constitution. This bill clears up an ambiguity over this issue.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Monday, December 12, 2016
Common sense (sort of) prevails in Ohio over gun-owner discrimination law
My Twitter feed absolutely exploded with confusion and outrage. Some of the better replies:
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Friday, December 9, 2016
WIRTW #441 (the “Burl Ives” edition)
Christmas carols and the Old 97’s are two things that make me very happy. Do you know what makes me happier? When the Old 97’s sing a Christmas carol.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Ohio set to elevate gun ownership to a protected employment class #TerribleIdea
How do you get conservative lawmakers to agree to add a protected class to an employment discrimination law? Focus on protecting on gun ownership, apparently.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
7 tips to avoid the holiday party nightmare
’Tis the season for workplace holiday parties. It a time to reflect on the past year and celebrate all your organization has accomplished. It is also a time to avoid liability, hopefully. A lot can go wrong at a holiday party.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
“Who needs the NLRB?”
Bloomberg BNA reporters Chris Opfer and Ben Penn asked this question in their weekly column of workplace musings: “Who needs the NLRB?” (a question I’ve asked myself more than once over the past eight years.)
Said Chris Opfer:
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Monday, December 5, 2016
A $15 minimum wage is not without consequences #fightfor15
The “Fight for 15” movement is taking notice:
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Friday, December 2, 2016
WIRTW #440 (the “muzak” edition)
Earlier this week I had a conference call with a client, an event which I repeat dozens of times per week. This particular client uses UberConnect as its conference call provider. I’ve never used UberConnect before, I know nothing about it, and I am certainly am not endorsing it. I am, however, endorsing its hold music. I was the first participant to dial in, and was prepared for a few moments of smooth jazz for my listening non-pleasure. Instead, I got this song, “I’m on Hold,” by Alex Cornell, one of the company’s founders, who wrote the song specifically for this purpose.
Kudos to any company that thinks outside the box and tries something different to make the mundane a little less so.
Here’s what I read the past two weeks:
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Will the 7th Circuit ban LGBT employment discrimination?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Federal court denies injunction against new OSHA retaliation rules
Stan Musial, Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, Honus Wagner, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio. Six of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball. And all ended the careers with batting averages under .333. If you’re a baseball player, one out of three places you among the all-time greats. If you’re the Department of Labor, however, it’s not so good.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
“Perceived” national origin discrimination may not be illegal, but…
Lost in the maelstrom of the last week’s FLSA overtime rule injunction was the news that the EEOC issued updated enforcement guidance on national origin discrimination.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Monday, November 28, 2016
As sure as today is Cyber Monday, your employees are shopping from work
Today is Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the holiday season. In fact, it is estimated that today will be the biggest online shopping day ever, with over $3.36 billion in sales.
And, guess what? Given that most of those doing the shopping will be spending the majority of their prime shopping hours at work, from where do you think they will be making most of their Cyber Monday purchases.
Consider these statistics, pulled from CareerBuilder’s 2016 Cyber Monday Survey:
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
With the new overtime rules DOA, what now for employers?
Yesterday I promised myself a blogging vacation until after the Thanksgiving holiday. And then Judge Amos L. Mazzant III dropped the biggest employment law story of the year by enjoining the DOL’s new overtime rules.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
BREAKING: Federal judge grants nationwide preliminary injunction against FLSA overtime rule
Consider this the judicial equivalent of a Hail Mary, or full-court buzzer beater, or a bottom-of-the-9th, 2-out grand slam.
Judge Amos L. Mazzant III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has just issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the DOL’s impending December 1 change to the FLSA’s white-collar salary test.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.
Dropping some wage and hour wisdom on turkey giveaways
One law firm for which I used to work provided each staff member an annual Thanksgiving turkey as a holiday thank you to its employees. With the hindsight of two decades of employment-law experience, here’s my question—should the fair market value of that turkey been included in the employees’ regular rate of pay? Because if it was, the company would have to include its value in the calculation of employees’ overtime rates.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways:
Subscribe to the feed or register for free email updates.