Workforce Bulletin

By Valerie Butera

OSHA requires employers to provide safe jobs and workplaces for their employees. And generally employers can rely upon established OSHA standards to guide them in reaching that goal. But faced with employers’ numerous questions and concerns regarding Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola) now that several patients with Ebola have been treated in the United States, OSHA has been slow to provide answers.

To date, OSHA has advised employers that certain established standards may apply in the event of possible worker exposure to Ebola. The agency has also issued ...

By Nancy L. Gunzenhauser

Election Day 2014 proved to be a big win for employees who earn minimum wage.  Several states and cites approved measures to increase the minimum wage.  The city of Oakland, CA established its first ever minimum wage at $12.25/hour, which will go into effect on March 2, 2015.  Over the past few years, many states and cities have passed legislation that will increase minimum wage based on inflation rates, as tied to the Consumer Price Index.  While some states have not yet announced the new minimum wage, they may still see increases in the new year (e.g ...

To register for this webinar, please click here.

Please join us on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. EST as we review developments in 2014 and what employers should expect and prepare for in 2015.

During this one hour webinar, we will discuss:

• Recent decisions regarding what constitutes adequate consideration for a non-compete
• The trend toward criminal prosecution of trade secret theft, especially in the international context
• Interesting decisions determining choice-of-law issues
• New and pending state and federal legislation

This webinar is hosted by Epstein Becker Green ...

When the Supreme Court held in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, 133 S. Ct. 2304 (2013),  that the Federal Arbitration Act does not permit courts to invalidate a contractual waiver of class arbitration on the ground that the plaintiff’s cost of individually arbitrating a federal statutory claim exceeds the potential recovery, many employers in the financial services industry, if they had not done so already, strengthened the language of  their mandatory arbitration provisions and policies to include explicit class action and class arbitration waivers.  ...

On Epstein Becker Green’s Management Memo blog, our colleague Jill Barbarino reviews the National Labor Relations Board’s ruling in Murphy Oil that revisited and reaffirmed its position that employers violate the National Labor Relations Act by requiring employees covered by the Act (virtually all non-supervisory and non-managerial employees of most private sector employees, whether unionized or not) to waive, as a condition of their employment, participation in class or collective actions despite rejection by federal courts.

Click here to read the Management memo blog ...

By Stuart M. Gerson

While by most accounts the current term of the Supreme Court is generally uninteresting, lacking anything that the popular media deem to be a blockbuster (the media’s choice being same-sex marriage or Affordable Care Act cases), the docket is heavily weighted towards labor and employment cases that potentially affect employers in all industries including  retail, health care, financial services, hospitality, and manufacturing.  In chronological order of argument they are as follows.

The Court already has heard argument in Integrity Staffing Solutions ...

While by most accounts the current term of the Supreme Court is generally uninteresting, lacking anything that the popular media deem to be a blockbuster (the media’s choice being same-sex marriage or Affordable Care Act cases), the docket is heavily weighted towards labor and employment cases and a few that potentially affect retail employers in particular. They are as follows.

The Court already has heard argument in Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, No. 13-433, which concerns whether the Portal-to-Portal Act, which amends the Fair Labor Standards Act, requires ...

By Susan Gross Sholinsky

The Ebola virus disease (“Ebola”) has become a worldwide threat, which, among many other effects, has forced employers to think about how to protect their employees. Employers also must consider how Ebola might impact employment policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, those addressing attendance, leaves of absence, discipline, and medical testing.

My colleagues and I have written a detailed Act Now advisory providing legal framework of best practices and legal risks pertaining to Ebola. 

Click here to read the advisory in its entirety

The Ebola virus disease (“Ebola”) has become a worldwide threat, which, among many other effects, has forced employers to think about how to protect their employees. Employers also must consider how Ebola might impact employment policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, those addressing attendance, leaves of absence, discipline, and medical testing.

My colleagues Susan Gross Sholinsky; Frank C. Morris, Jr.;William J. Milani; Steven M. Swirsky; Nancy L. Gunzenhauser; and Maxine Adams have written a comprehensive Act Now advisory ...

Epstein Becker Green is pleased to announce that Valerie Butera, an accomplished Occupational Safety & Health (OSHA) lawyer, has joined as a Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor, and Workforce Management practice. She will be based in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.

Ms. Butera joins Epstein Becker Green from Arent Fox LLP. She is OSHA 30 certified and has substantial training and experience in process safety management (PSM). Her practice focuses on areas within OSHA such as catastrophe management, compliance counseling, rulemaking, inspections, as well as ...