Heads up, HR pros: Misclassifying workers as independent contractors when they are really employees can end up being an expensive mistake. For the second time in a matter of months, a state attorney general’s office has recovered millions in a case involving alleged worker misclassification by employers. As you may recall, in mid-September, the New […]
COVID may feel like a thing of the past, but its legal fallout continues. A Pennsylvania school worker’s religious accommodation claim from the pandemic years just failed in court — a reminder that these disputes are still playing out. Religious Accommodation Claim Centers on COVID Quarantine Gregory Bingham worked for the Philadelphia School District as […]
A $900,000 settlement in Washington shows how easily employers can stumble on pay transparency compliance when job postings lack required pay ranges. The Washington case centers on Domino’s franchisees accused of leaving pay range details out of job postings, an omission that violated the state’s pay transparency rules and led to a costly class action […]
When it comes to nursing rights at work, a Pennsylvania court just sent a clear message: Mishandling accommodation requests for pumping breaks can create serious liability for employers. In 2021, Madison Weaver was working as a customer service agent for GAT Airline Ground Support at an airport in Pittsburgh. GAT customer service agents manned the […]
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is suing to block the Trump administration’s new $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, arguing it would drive up labor costs and limit access to global talent. For most employers, it’s an unbudgeted expense – a steep jump from current petition fees of roughly $2,000 to $5,000 per application. The timing […]
Pay transparency laws typically require employers to disclose salary and other relevant information in their job postings. But what if an applicant doesn’t really want the job – and is just testing you and hoping to see you in court for violating the rules? A new decision from Washington state’s highest court establishes that under […]
An employee who says his employer wrongfully withheld overtime payments has recovered about $3,700 for the alleged violation so far – but he is fighting to get much more. For HR pros, the case shows that depending on state law, the cost for violating applicable overtime rules can be sky high. New Overtime Policy Leads […]
Pay transparency has been a dominant legislative theme in 2025 — and three new updates in the final stretch of the year reinforce it as a lasting standard for employers. Below, we break down these three key updates and what they mean for HR teams. Delaware Pay Transparency Law Passed On September 26, 2025, Delaware […]
A newly filed lawsuit in Massachusetts accuses package delivery service provider FedEx of neglecting its legal duty to pay drivers overtime by having the drivers work for intermediate entities called “independent service providers.” The suit essentially asserts that FedEx created the independent service provider model so that it could shirk its legal responsibility under the […]
It’s a relatively uncommon type of Title VII claim, but it happens: An employee sues their employer based on alleged harassment not by a supervisor or co-worker but instead by a client or customer of the employer. In that situation, is the employer liable for the third-party harassment? More specifically, is it enough for the […]
Workplace safety has always been a balancing act between compliance and genuine risk reduction. Nowhere is that more evident than in industries like construction, where workers face hazards ranging from falls and electrocutions to heavy equipment accidents. Despite decades of progress, these risks remain stubbornly persistent. Recent regulatory updates from the Occupational Safety and Health […]
Under a new law in Maine, covered employers are now required to provide compensation — or show-up pay — to employees who report to work but have their shifts canceled or reduced. In passing this legislation, Maine joins a handful of states that require show-up pay, also known as reporting time pay, including California, Connecticut, […]
It’s a wildly astronomical number, and we’re not trying to scare anyone – but a recent case from New Jersey shows that employee misclassifications can be a costly mistake. The state of New Jersey recently recovered more than $19 million against the ridesharing service Lyft, which it accused of wrongly misclassifying more than 100,000 of […]
Sometimes, things can get uncomfortable or awkward at work. But to cross the line into illegal harassment, there needs to be something more: what the law calls “severe or pervasive” negative conduct or behavior. In a recent case from eastern Pennsylvania, a federal district court ruled that a supervisor’s whisper into a subordinate’s ear, though […]
Sometimes, the payment of bonuses is at the discretion of the employer. But at other times, bonus payments are required under the terms of an applicable employment agreement. When that is the case – and the bonuses aren’t paid – employers can find themselves in some pretty serious trouble. A case from South Carolina shows […]
Intrusive, intimate questions. Unwanted physical contact. A senior official publicly engaging in inappropriate conduct at an office holiday party. That’s what happened at a county public defender’s office, according to a sexual harassment complaint submitted to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). For HR leaders, this case highlights the strategic need to proactively address workplace […]
