Kollman & Saucier, Author at Kollman & Saucier P.A.

DOL’s Six Latest Opinion Letters Offer Useful Guidance To Employers

Kollman & Saucier

08/30/2018

FMLA, Temporary Workers, Wage & Hour, Wellness Programs

After going into hibernation during the Obama Administration, opinion letters have reemerged as part of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) efforts to guide employers seeking valuable input about legal compliance and best practices. As the DOL itself explains, these letters are “official, written opinion[s] by WHD on how a particular law applies in specific circumstances presented by the person or entity requesting the letter.” The...

Kollman & Saucier

08/10/2018

Damages, Employment Discrimination, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Supervisor Liability

Most of the time, the stories of workplace sexual harassment we hear about consist of conduct occurring between men and women. Yet Title VII’s ban on discrimination because of sex encompasses same-sex harassment in the workplace as well. Such was the lesson learned for a Chicago, Illinois grocery store that had justified the harassment of a male butcher as mere “meat counter culture” in Smith v. Rosebud Farm, Inc., Case No. 17-2626,...

Kollman & Saucier

08/08/2018

Agency Activity, Labor Law

As some readers may be aware, last year, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) reversed several Obama-era precedent setting cases bearing standards generally considered favorable to employees. This included The Boeing Company, 365 NLRB No. 154 (2017) (overruling the Lutheran Heritage standard); PCC Structurals, Inc., 365 NLRB No. 160 (2017) (overruling the Specialty Healthcare standard); and Hy-Brand, 365 NLRB No. 156 (2017)...

Kollman & Saucier

07/11/2018

Labor Law

The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently enforced a decision of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that In-N-Out Burger in Austin, Texas violated labor laws with its “no pins or stickers” rule, when it stopped employees wearing buttons supporting the “Fight for $15” campaign – a movement advocating for a $15 per hour minimum wage. In-N-Out Burger, Inc. v. NLRB, No. 17-60241, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 18472 (5th Cir. July 6,...

Kollman & Saucier

06/29/2018

Employee Benefits, Employment Contracts

As any regular reader of this blog knows, at-will employment – under which an employee may be terminated for almost any reason, or no reason at all – is the “default” relationship in most jobs. There is also no requirement in most industries that parties utilize an employment contract. Parties who choose to form an employment contract, however, may (but are not required to) modify this at-will employment in a variety of ways. Most...

Kollman & Saucier

06/22/2018

Agency Activity

This week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) made headlines with a final rule affecting small businesses and other entities and a merger proposed by the Trump Administration that could change the structure of the agency as we know it. Expanding Access to Association Health Plans On June 19, the DOL issued a final rule enabling small businesses, including self-employed individuals, to join in forming Association Health Plans (AHPs) for purposes of...

Kollman & Saucier

06/20/2018

Labor Law

When an employer has a duty to engage in collective bargaining, its refusal to do so is an unfair labor practice under the National Labor Relations Act (the Act). Refusals to engage in collective bargaining can take many forms. Earlier this week, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) found that a UPS facility in Puerto Rico unlawfully refused to bargain by continuing to insist that a union proposal be translated from...

Kollman & Saucier

05/25/2018

Arbitration, Employment Contracts, Legal Developments

In the aftermath of Monday’s Supreme Court decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, as discussed on this blog, employers are free to include class-action waivers as part of their arbitration clauses in employment agreements. There is, however, a difference between whether employers can include such clauses and whether all employers should include them. Some of the assumed benefits of arbitration are that it is less formal, less expensive, and...

Kollman & Saucier

05/22/2018

Arbitration, Class Actions, Employment Contracts, Labor Law, Legal Developments

Mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts are increasingly a fact of workplace life. What happens, though, when an employee signs an employment agreement requiring that any job-related disputes be submitted to individual arbitration, rather than class- or collective-action lawsuits? Do longstanding federal labor laws protecting workers’ right to engage in “concerted activities for the purpose of . . . mutual aid or protection”...

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DOL’s Six Latest Opinion Letters Offer Useful Guidance To Employers

Not Just “Meat Counter Culture”: When Same-Sex Harassment Violates Title VII

NLRB Seeks Input on Non-Work Related Use of Company Email Systems

Want Fries with that NLRA Violation?

Compensation Agreement Did Not Modify At-Will Status, Eighth Circuit Holds

DOL Expands Association Health Plans While Trump Proposes Agency Restructure

Employer Commits Unfair Labor Practice By Insisting on English-Only Proposal

A Potentially Epic Alternative To Class-Action Waiver Arbitration Clauses

Supreme Court Upholds Individual Arbitration Clauses In Employment Contracts

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Author: Kollman & Saucier

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