The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) has issued the long-awaited final PWFA rule, slated to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow and then take effect 60 days later – on June 18, 2024. Here's a quick recap of the…
Employment Law
An appeals court in Illinois upheld a decision to award workers’ comp benefits to a traveling employee who was hurt before he got on the road to his first daily assignment. The question that the court answered in the employee’s…
For the second time in less than six months, OSHA found serious safety violations at a battery manufacturer in Georgia. SK Battery America Inc., a global electric vehicle battery manufacturer, faces $77,200 in fines. Workers exposed to respiratory hazards in fire In…
A federal appeals court has revived a prison employee’s Title VII claim that he was subjected to severe harassment at work based on his status as a transgender man. While working at Rogers State Prison in Georgia, Tyler Copeland began…
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been very busy over the last year. Among other things, it has focused on workplace rules, as an employer in the Midwest recently learned the hard way. It ended up paying $297,000 to…
An employer may be responsible for birth defects allegedly caused by its workers’ exposure to toxic chemicals, a state appeals court in Illinois has ruled. This case involves Marcus Ledeaux and Enrique Daniel Araballo, who each had a parent who…
A new OSHA rule – the so-called “walkaround” rule – clarifies that employees may designate a non-employee third party, such as a union rep, to be their representative and accompany OSHA inspectors during workplace safety inspections. The final rule was…
A termination is justified if an employee is caught stealing, right? Not necessarily. This case shows that everything isn’t black and white — especially when managers make mistakes during the termination process. Key takeaways for HR: Not every manager has received…
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed into law SB 1515, which amends the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) and the Paid Leave Oregon (PLO) program. The amended legislation, which aims to reduce leave stacking and better align the two overlapping leave…
A federal court in Texas addressed safety training claims raised by a Home Depot worker who was injured while using a ladder to retrieve a bag of firewood. Notably, the court rejected a claim that the store did not provide…
The use of recreational and medical marijuana is an evolving area of employment law, which can make things a bit tricky for employers trying to maintain safe working conditions. In light of the rapidly changing laws, a lot of folks…
When an ADA accommodation claim is based on the denial of a request to be excused from performing a specific job function, there’s one defense that works best. The ideal response for the employer: Excusing performance of the job function…
As an HR pro, you know the importance of remaining professional while interviewing an internal candidate. That includes both avoiding certain topics and asking the right questions. But at some point in your career, you might’ve sat in on an…
In one of the latest woke training lawsuits, a Colorado employee claimed his employer’s mandatory DEI training created a hostile work environment. When the case reached the Tenth Circuit, the appeals court affirmed a ruling in the employer’s favor. Even…
AI is a tremendously powerful – and potentially helpful – tool for HR pros. But as an ongoing court case in Massachusetts shows, it comes with dangers that are sometimes hard to detect – and can land employers in court…
This case involves a tragedy that may – or may not – have been avoidable. Either way, it wasn’t a good look for the company, and it shows how crucial it is to provide regular training to managers. Pregnant worker…
