New Federal Protections For Nursing Mothers

Beyond the Pregnant Fairness Workers Act, which we discussed last week on our blog, the Consolidated Appropriates Act (which takes effect on June 23, 2023) also includes the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act).  The new law significantly expands existing lactation accommodations/protections for nursing mothers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and took effect on December 29, 2022, which changes to...
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FTC Proposes Rule Banning Most Non-Competes

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
01/06/2023
A non-compete clause prevents an employee from working for a competitor, typically for anywhere from six months to two years, after their employment ends. Historically, with the exceptions of California, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, courts have enforced such clauses if they are reasonably drafted to protect a legitimate business interest. But non-compete clauses are still disfavored. A majority of the forty-seven states that permit enforcement of...
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President Biden Signs New Pregnancy Discrimination Law

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
01/04/2023
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is a new federal law that will require employers with fifteen or more employees to make reasonable workplace accommodations for qualified employees affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The PWFA, which was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2023, was signed by President Biden on December 29, 2022 and takes effect on June 27, 2023. The PWFA closes a loophole in the...
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You Quit? That’s An Unfair Labor Practice Says NLRB

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
12/29/2022
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) came out with a bunch of year-end decisions, some of which were blogged about by my friend and partner Eric Paltell on this site a couple of weeks ago.   Put gently, none of these decisions could be considered “employer-friendly.”  Here’s another one. On its last day before the winter break, the NLRB held, in a 2-1 decision, that an employer committed an unfair labor practice (ULP) by refusing to...
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Santa’s Naughty List Said “No Rockettes for You!”

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
12/26/2022
t’s the season of merriment and good cheer, right?  Well, not if you are an attorney who (or if you work for a law firm that) has sued MSG Entertainment – the folks who run Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall, as well as other venues in New York City and elsewhere. According to an article on the New York Times website last Thursday (in the print edition on Friday, December 23, 2022),...
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NLRB Refuses to Set Aside Election Based on Failure to Provide Home Phone Numbers

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/21/2022
In a decision issued on the last day of Member Ring's term, the NLRB ruled that an employer's failure to provide the union with  home phone numbers for five employees did not warrant setting aside the employer's election victory.  In MVM, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 32, the Board held that omitting the numbers for only five of the 92 employees while providing cell phone numbers for all employees "substantially complied" with the voting list requirements...
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NLRB Expands Remedies Available for Unfair Labor Practice Charges

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/19/2022
On December 13, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision  that will substantially expand the relief available to an employee who prevails in an unfair labor practice charge proceeding.  The Board's decision in Thrive, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 22, holds that the standard "make-whole" remedy for an employee harmed by an employer's unfair labor practice includes compensation for "all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harm" resulting from...
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Injured Workers’ Personal Injury Claims Not Precluded By Workers’ Compensation Statute

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/01/2022
The classification of workers as employees or independent contractors has a number of implications regarding liability for workplace related actions, including those under discrimination, wage and hour, tax, unemployment, and workers’ compensation laws.   The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed the issue in the context of state tort law claims brought by three individuals working for Eastman Chemical Co. in South Carolina. Zeigler...
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T-Mobile Violated Labor Law With Company Union

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/28/2022
One way an employer may violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is to create a “company union.”  Under Section 8(a)(2) of the NLRA, it is an unfair labor practice for an employer “to dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization or contribute financial or other support to it.”  A labor organization is “any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or plan,...
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New Mandatory EEOC Poster Released

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/22/2022
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a new "Know Your Rights" poster (dated October 20, 2022) that replaces its prior "EEO is the Law" poster.  Any employer with at least 15 employees are required to display this poster in the workplace. The new poster is two pages, with the first applying to all covered employers and the second detailing requirements for federal contractors and businesses receiving federal financial...
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