Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor published new fact sheets on its website. Employers and employees alike will want to check these out: Here is a link to the FLSA fact sheet. This fact sheet provides general information concerning the FLSA’s prohibition of retaliating against any employee who has…
The Employer Handbook Blog
Fact or Fiction: If you don’t say “FMLA”, you can’t take FMLA leave?
That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post”. So, let’s get right to today’s question: That Eddie Employee is a gamer. While filling up at the Gas-N-Gulp on…
NJ officially adopts the Trade Secrets Act
As reported here in September, the State of New Jersey was recommending passage of the New Jersey Trade Secrets Act. Well, welcome to the party, pal. (Or is it Powell?). Last week, NJ became the 47th state to adopt a version of the uniform trade secrets act as Governor Christie signed…
Is it whistleblowing when your job is to report violations of the law?
That is the question that a former Starbucks employee is asking the NJ Supreme Court to answer. More on this case and what it could mean for actions asserted under NJ’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) after the jump… * * * *** No Snow White here. And if…
Crime & Punishment: Beware what you ask Philly job applicants
Last year, here and here, I discussed legislation that would prohibit Philadelphia employers from asking job applicants about certain arrests and making any personnel decisions based on records of an arrest that does not result in a conviction. That legislation is now the law. That law is the Philadelphia Fair Criminal…
Oh, baby? An employee’s pre-eligibility FMLA request is protected
Back in 2005, a Pennsylvania federal court recognized in this opinion that an employee’s FMLA rights become sacrosanct upon requesting FMLA — even if the employee is not yet FMLA-eligible — provided that the employee has satisfied all FMLA service requirements when the FMLA begins. Where would this most likely arise?…
PA remains a hotbed of social-media discovery disputes
I’ve been slacking, folks. Not since November have I blogged about a defendant’s motion to compel a motion to compel an individual’s social-media content. Since then, several more Pennsylvania courts have weighed in on this burgeoning area. I’m sorry to each and every one of you. I have let…
And the most ridiculous lawsuit of 2011 was…
According to FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org, the lawsuit that keeps those lawyer jokes flowing is… Convict sues couple he kidnapped for not helping him evade police. A man who kidnapped a couple at knifepoint while he was running from the police is now suing the victims, claiming that they promised to hide him…
SCOTUS: Religious groups nearly exempt from job-bias laws
Yesterday, in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment bar employment-discrimination lawsuits by ministers against their churches. More on this decision and some helpful reminders for private-sector employers after the jump……
PA companies offering severance to employees should read this…
Starting this year, employees who receive severance pay in excess of 40% of the average annual wage in Pennsylvania will have their unemployment compensation benefits offset. Currently, that 40% number is $17,853.00. As Jonathan Segal, Legislative Director for PA State Council of SHRM, notes here, employers should be very careful…