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Two Important Wage-Related Updates

By on March 8, 2019 in 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 […]

Maryland Wiretap Act No Shield For Surreptitious Recorder

By on November 30, 2018 in 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] […]

A Potentially Epic Alternative To Class-Action Waiver Arbitration Clauses

By on May 25, 2018 in 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 […]

Supreme Court Upholds Individual Arbitration Clauses In Employment Contracts

By on May 22, 2018 in 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 […]

Two Employment Related Measures Under Consideration By Congress

By on November 16, 2017 in Labor Law, Legal Developments, Legislative Developments, Wage & Hour

At least two employment-related bills have been introduced in Congress in recent days.  The first, H.R. 4219, dubbed the Workflex in the 21st Century Act, would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to include an option for qualified flexible workplace arrangements.  Under the legislation in its current form, employers would voluntarily offer […]

The Supreme Court Delivers Some Bad News To The Post Office

By on May 24, 2016 in Employment Discrimination, Legal Developments, Limitations, Supreme Court Decisions

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Green v. Brennan, U.S. No. 14-613 (May 23, 2016), holding that the statute of limitations for a former Postmaster’s Title VII constructive discharge claim begins on the date he gave notice of his resignation, and not on the date of the employer’s alleged last discriminatory act. Former […]

The IRS Has Spoken: Legal Same-Sex Marriage Recognized For Federal Tax Purposes

By on September 12, 2013 in Agency Activity, Legal Developments, Same-Sex Marriage

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service issued a joint news release and Revenue Ruling 2013-17, in which the agencies announced that same-sex married couples will be recognized as legally married for federal tax purposes, regardless of where they reside, so long as they were married in any U.S. state or territory, or a foreign […]