Articles About Louisiana Labor and Employment Law.

An employer’s dispute resolution program, stating that it was not “intended to violate or restrict any rights of employees guaranteed by state or federal laws,” did not give rise to the right to a jury trial, and so an employee was required to submit his age discrimination claim to binding arbitration, a federal appeals court in New Orleans has held under Louisiana contract law. Klein v. Nabors Drilling USA, L.P., No. 11-30824 (5th Cir. Feb. 26, 2013). The Court found that the quoted language meant simply the employee would maintain his substantive statutory rights in the arbitration proceeding. Therefore, the Court reversed the lower court’s order denying arbitration with instructions to grant the employer’s motion to compel arbitration.

The Louisiana legislature recently passed two laws aimed at immigration compliance which have the effect of: (1) requiring employers and subcontractors that do business with the State to use E-Verify; and (2) giving employers that are not required to use E-Verify a “safe harbor” from immigration penalties if they choose to use E-Verify. Both bills were signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal on July 6th, 2011, and will take effect on August 15th, 2011. So Louisiana employers have a little less than a month to prepare for compliance.

The Louisiana State Legislature has passed two laws aimed at deterring the employment of unauthorized aliens. HB 342 would prohibit state contractors from bidding or contracting for state work without first submitting an affidavit attesting that they will use the federal E-Verify program to verify the legal work status of workers throughout the project. It also would require the contractor to obtain sworn statements from their subcontractors attesting to the use of E-Verify. Failure to complete the affidavit or use E-Verify as required would cause the work to be terminated and bar the contractor from future bidding or contract work for up to three years.

Labor & Employment attorney H. Mark Adams has authored an article on the impact the recent general elections will have on Louisiana employers.