Earlier this month, a federal appellate court had to decide whether a hospital employee could perform her job remotely or whether the job’s essential functions required her to come to work in person. Spoiler alert: The plaintiff lost the failure-to-accommodate claim she asserted under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But…
All you Family Medical Leave Act savants know about the 30-day rule, right? Once an employer initially certifies an employee for FMLA leave, it cannot seek recertification more often than once every 30 days unless one of these exceptions applies. Hold that thought as I tell you about the facts…
Employees who want to bring federal anti-discrimination claims in court can’t just file the lawsuit. Instead, they must first file a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. There are time limits to filing with the EEOC. The EEOC website states: In general, you need to file…
Imagine a business that gives its employees two days off each week. There’s nothing abnormal about that. However, the company uses a sex-based policy to determine which two days an employee can pick. Only men can select full weekends off—women cannot. Instead, female employees can pick either two weekdays off…
Dijares, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Two wage and hour posts in a row! And this one has an 80’s hair metal track (with a Milton Berle cameo) to back it. So, cut off your sleeves and sing along as we talk about rounding time under the Fair Labor…
By Terry Foote – I took this photograph while attending a Spring Training game, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link Because who is going to click if I had titled this post, “The Third Circuit clarifies when compensable work is the ‘integral and indispensable.'” But, now that you’re here, you might as…
TL;DR: Yes. But, working overtime must be an essential function of the job. Here’s an example from a recent Fifth Circuit decision. The plaintiff worked as a detention officer. One of the requirements for the job of detention officer was to “work overtime as required,” including “up to sixteen (16)…
The Americans with Disabilities Act makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a qualified applicant or employee with a disability. According to a lawsuit that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed yesterday, an employer did both. To the same individual. Here’s more from the EEOC press release:…
Employment lawyers often quip that they could walk into a workplace and spot at least one violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal law governing the payment of overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over…
Yes, alcoholism can be a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The EEOC notes here that the ADA may protect a “qualified” alcoholic who can meet the definition of “disability.” What is a “qualified” alcoholic? Someone who can perform the job’s essential functions with or without accommodation. An employer can…