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EEOC Sues Kroger For Failure to Accommodate Religious Objectors to Rainbow Logo

Eric Paltell
Eric Paltell
09/17/2020
Agency Activity, Religious Discrimination
We've heard a lot about LGBTQ issues in the workplace this year, including the Supreme Court's landmark June ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County.  However, a  September 14, 2020 lawsuit filed by the EEOC against Kroger in Arkansas raises a different workplace issue relating to the LGBTQ community: does an employer have to accommodate the religious beliefs of employees who believe LGBTQ practices violate their sincerely held religious beliefs? The...
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DOL Issues Revised FFCRA Regulations

Eric Paltell
Eric Paltell
09/15/2020
Agency Activity, COVID-19
On September 11th, the U.S. Department of Labor issued revised regulations on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The new regulations are a response to an  August 3, 2020 decision from a New York federal court finding that DOL's interpretation of the FFCRA   excluded too many health care workers from the Act's coverage. The court also  struck down a provision that allows employers to deny leave when they don't have work...
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Maryland’s Mini-WARN Act: Will You Be In Compliance?

Andrea Murphy
Andrea Murphy
09/10/2020
Agency Activity, State Law, WARN
Earlier this week, I blogged about several employment laws scheduled to take effect October 1.  Among them is HB1018/SB0780, which significantly changes the State’s Economic Stabilization Act, Maryland’s version of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.  For readers who are unfamiliar with the Economic Stabilization Act (the Act), it applies to businesses employing 50 or more individuals and doing business in...
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OSHA Updates and Removes Guidance From Its COVID-19 FAQs

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
08/04/2020
Agency Activity, COVID-19, Workplace Safety
As an increasing number of states, local governments, and private employers are mandating that employees, particularly those who work indoors and in close proximity to other employees, wear masks covering the mouth and nose to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, last Friday, OSHA updated its frequently asked COVID-19 questions and answers.  As to wearing cloth masks, OSHA stated unequivocally that workers who wear cloth masks to prevent...
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NLRB Proposes Changes To Excelsior Lists

Clifford Geiger
Clifford Geiger
07/29/2020
Agency Activity, Labor Law
In Excelsior Underwear, 156 NLRB 1236 (1966), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) first required employers to provide unions with the names and home addresses of eligible voters in advance of representation elections. This list of voters became known as an Excelsior list.  In 2014, the NLRB expanded the information required to be on Excelsior lists to include all available personal email addresses and cell phone numbers. On Tuesday, July 29,...
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DOL Will No Longer Seek Liquidated Damages As A Default Policy In Wage And Hour Cases

Vincent Jackson
Vincent Jackson
06/25/2020
Agency Activity, Wage & Hour
The Department of  Labor has pulled back from its policy of seeking liquidated damages – or “double” damages – against employers in wage and hour investigations.  On June 24, 2020, the DOL issued a field assistance bulletin which stated that it will no longer apply the default policy of seeking pre-litigation liquidated damages from employers who are found to owe back wages to workers.  Specifically, the Department will not assess...
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EEOC, DOL, and OSHA Activity For Employers To Note

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
06/09/2020
Agency Activity, COVID-19
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has delayed the submission of this year's EEO-1 forms until March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Each year, employers must submit demographic workforce data by March 31 for the prior calendar year.  The EEOC determined to collect both 2019 and 2020 data in March 2021 given the challenging compensation data of these past few months. The Department of Labor (DOL) published updated COBRA notices...
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Maryland Employers Required to Report Sex Harassment Settlements By July 1st

Jeffrey Maylor
Jeffrey Maylor
06/06/2020
Agency Activity, Sexual Harassment
n May 2018, my colleague Randi Hyatt posted about the “Disclosing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Act of 2018” (“Act”).  The Act went into effect on October 1, 2018 and has a sunset provision for June 30, 2023.  The Act established the requirement for employers with at least 50 employees (at all locations, not exclusively working in Maryland) to submit a survey to the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (“MCCR”) regarding sexual...
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Federal Court Blocks Implementation Of New Election Rules

Clifford Geiger
Clifford Geiger
06/02/2020
Agency Activity, Union Activity
In December 2019 the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a final rule to amend the procedures to be followed in union representation cases.  The NLRB said the purpose of the final rule was “to permit parties additional time to comply with various pre-election requirements instituted in 2015, to clarify and reinstate some procedures that better ensure the opportunity for litigation and resolution of unit scope and voter eligibility...
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DOL Issues New Final Rule on Retail or Service Establishment Overtime Exemption

Eric Paltell
Eric Paltell
05/19/2020
Agency Activity, Wage & Hour
On May 19, 2020, the United States Department of Labor issued a new final rule that overhauls its 60-year old regulatory guidance on the types of industries that fall within the "retail or service establishment" overtime exemption.  The change may result in more employers being able to take advantage of this exemption. Under Section 207(i) of the FLSA, an employer who mets the definition of a retail or service establishment  is excused from paying...
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