As workplaces in North Carolina and South Carolina are opening back up, employers should make sure they are up to date on their rights and obligations to test or otherwise screen their employees for COVID-19 under the federal anti-discrimination laws governing the workplace.
Archives for October 28, 2020
Addressing and Preventing Inappropriate ‘Shop Talk’
In a manufacturing environment, employees often work near each other, and the level of noise can cause conversations to go unheard by others not in the immediate vicinity. Like the quintessential example of “locker room talk,” “shop talk” in a manufacturing environment can walk a fine line between employee banter and inappropriate, or, in extreme cases, even illegal, conduct.
New Michigan COVID-19 Law Restricts Employment Actions
Michigan has enacted significant new legislation that prohibits employees with “the principal symptoms” of COVID-19 from reporting to work and forbids employers from discharging, disciplining, or retaliating against employees who stay home because they have been diagnosed with or exposed to COVID-19.
Leonora Schloss Discusses CFRA Leave
Leonora Schloss discusses the administrative and leave implications of the California Family Rights Act in “California Employers Must Prepare for CFRA Leave Expansion,” published by SHRM.
Update: U.S. Border Restrictions Extended due to COVID-19
Announced via Tweet by Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the COVID-related restrictions at the Canadian and Mexican borders have been extended yet again until November 21, 2020. These restrictions apply to land and sea entries and prevent entry for non-essential purposes. Although there continues to
Time to Review Employee Wages and Salaries for 2021
The California 2020 legislative session has closed, and employers should be preparing for 2021 by updating policies and procedures. Employers should ensure that the minimum wage for non-exempt employees’ wages will be appropriately increased for 2021. Since 2017, California has been working its way up to an eventual $15 minimum
Workplace Violence Prevention Strategies in a Time of Political and Social Unrest
Tensions appear to be running hot across the nation during this polarized election season and time of political and social unrest.
Massachusetts Federal Court Preliminarily Requires Employer to Allow Employee’s Teleworking
On September 16, 2020, in Peeples v. Clinical Support Options, Inc., No. 3:20-cv-30144, a federal district court in Massachusetts took the unusual step of precluding an employer from discharging an employee who claimed an inability to work in the office due to a disability, and ordered the employer to allow
How Is OFCCP Responding to EO 13950?
Since September 22, 2020, when President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order (EO) titled “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) rolled out several sources to provide guidance to federal contractors and subcontractors and other stakeholders on what to expect