Legal Developments Archives - Kollman & Saucier P.A.

The Potential Impact of the Supreme Court Overruling Chevron

Kollman & Saucier

07/10/2024

Agency Activity, Legal Developments, Supreme Court Decisions

As early as middle school, we become familiar with the functions of the three branches of government. The legislative branch makes laws, the judicial branch interprets them, and the executive branch enforces them. Perhaps this simplified description is best for teaching young students, but the reality is far more complicated. The federal bureaucracy is sometimes referred to as the “Fourth Branch.” The bureaucracy consists of fifteen Cabinet...

Kollman & Saucier

10/26/2023

Agency Activity, Joint Employer, Labor Law, Legal Developments, NLRB

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released today its Final Rule regarding the Standard for Determining Joint-Employer Status under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB press release states: Under the new standard, an entity may be considered a joint employer of a group of employees if each entity has an employment relationship with the employees and they share or codetermine one or more of the employees’ essential terms and...

Kollman & Saucier

09/08/2023

FLSA Exemptions, Legal Developments, Wage & Hour

Federal overtime pay provisions are part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Unless exempt, employees covered by the FLSA must be paid at a time-and-a-half rate for time worked over 40 hours in a work week. Under current law, workers who are salaried, earn at least $35,568 annually ($684 per week), and work in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity are exempt, meaning they are not entitled to overtime pay. The...

Kollman & Saucier

08/03/2023

Handbooks/Policies, Labor Law, Legal Developments, NLRB, Protected Concerted Activity, Union Activity

As has been anticipated for some time, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in Stericycle, Inc. (Aug. 2, 2023), adopted a new standard for determining whether workplace rules are lawful under the National Labor Relations Act. The new standard is similar to the analysis used prior to the Board’s 2017 decision in Boeing Co. Under the Stericycle framework, the lawfulness of workplace rules under the NLRA turns on whether workers would view...

Kollman & Saucier

06/04/2021

Legal Developments, State Law

The State of Maryland has passed several new employment laws, with some set to take effect as soon as July 1, 2021. Here is a rundown: SB364- Nondisparagement Clauses in Law Enforcement Civil Claims Settlements. Prohibits non-disparagement clauses in settlement agreements for claims alleging misconduct in the performance of duties by members of the police forces for certain higher education institutions in the State of Maryland. Claims must arise...

Kollman & Saucier

03/13/2020

COVID-19, Legal Developments

Late yesterday afternoon, I received a call from a client that was eerily reminiscent of the calls I often received during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The call went something like this: “Eric, because of the impact COVID-19 is having on our business, we are considering furloughing staff. What are the wage and hour implications of furloughs?” After receiving that call, I dusted off some of the guidance I had given 11 years ago and am sending...

Kollman & Saucier

07/11/2019

Employment Discrimination, Gender Identity, Legal Developments, Sex Discrimination, State Law

Watching the U.S. Women’s National Team play in and win the World Cup this past weekend took me right back to my own days of competitive girls’ soccer. But nostalgia wasn’t the only thing that came to mind as the win brought additional attention to the Team’s recent lawsuit for equal pay. That lawsuit, filed in March, generally alleges that the players on the Women’s National Team (“WNT”) are paid less than the players on...

Kollman & Saucier

03/08/2019

Agency Activity, Legal Developments, Legislative Developments, Wage & Hour

This has been an action-packed week on the wage and hour frontier. Two important decisions at the federal level are expected to significantly impact most employers going forward. Revised Overtime Rule First, on Thursday evening, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced its long-awaited proposed rule to update the salary exemption threshold under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) from its 2004 levels. All employees who are paid a salary falling...

Kollman & Saucier

11/30/2018

Legal Developments

It isn’t often that I get to write about an opinion on a criminal law matter. However, the Maryland Court of Appeals’ opinion in Agnew v. State, No. 9, September Term 2018 (Md. Nov. 20, 2018), provides that chance. In Agnew, Maryland’s highest court addressed the following question: “Was a recorded communication on a [cell] phone between [Agnew] and an unidentified speaker intercepted in violation of the Maryland Wiretap Act and...

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...

1 2 3 4 >

Email Updates

The Potential Impact of the Supreme Court Overruling Chevron

NLRB Issues New Joint Employer Rule

The U.S. Department of Labor Proposes New Overtime Eligibility Rule

NLRB Revises Workplace Rules Standards

2021 - New Maryland Employment Law Round-Up

Furloughs During Economic Downturns: A Reminder of the Wage & Hour Rules

Maryland’s Equal Pay Law: Are You In Compliance?

Two Important Wage-Related Updates

Maryland Wiretap Act No Shield For Surreptitious Recorder

A Potentially Epic Alternative To Class-Action Waiver Arbitration Clauses

Email Updates

Email Updates

Category: Legal Developments

Email Updates