Workforce Bulletin

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 ...

One of many changes wrought by passage of the Dodd-Frank Act is that employers cannot compel potential whistleblowers to report known or suspected unlawful activity to the company before reporting such information to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).  Employees are eligible for a bounty award from the SEC even if they do not first – or ever – report internally. The SEC’s position is that mandatory internal reporting could discourage at least some potential whistleblowers.  Consistent with that position, SEC Whistleblower Rule 21F–17 provides:

No person may take ...

By Kenneth DiGia and Lauri F. Rasnick

FINRA just issued a reminder regarding its views on confidentiality provisions and confidentiality stipulations.

Settlement Agreements

In Regulatory Notice 14-40, FINRA follows up on its prior Notice to Members 04-44, in which it had cautioned firms about the use of certain provisions in settlement agreements that impede, or have the potential to impede, FINRA investigations and the enforcement of FINRA actions.  Specifically, FINRA had addressed settlement agreement provisions which limited, prohibited or discouraged employees from ...

By Jeffrey H. Ruzal

In August, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law HB 5622, amending the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA), which now recognizes for the first time payment of wages by payroll card. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2015. While the law provides a new option for Illinois employers, they must be careful to comply with the conditions under which payroll cards may be used.

Under the current Illinois law, employers are required to pay employees via check or direct deposit. The current law is silent as to whether payroll cards, which operate like debit ...

By Steven C. Sheinberg, General Counsel of the Anti-Defamation League & Guest TMT blogger.*

A recent McKinsey report on twelve “disruptive” technologies included four that will fundamentally transform how employers relate to their employees: mobile Internet, automation of knowledge work, the Internet of things and cloud computing. I would add to the list three results of these technologies: big-data, cybercrime and privacy.

From an employment law perspective, the common element here is data – data that flows to, is stored by, and is used (or misused) by employers, third ...

At the Firm’s 33rd Annual Labor and Employment Client Briefing, Lauri Rasnick and John Fullerton spoke on the financial services industry panel about the impact of increased compliance obligations on the employment relationship and developments in the areas of applicant screening, whistleblower complaints, internal investigations, and diversity and inclusion.

Here are a few takeaways from that session:

• Eleven states have enacted legislation prohibiting the use of consumer credit reports in making employment decisions.  There has been a dramatic increase in state and ...

In this month's Take 5 newsletter, I share my thoughts regarding five important issues that TMT companies should consider as they shape their employee benefits programs.  Below is an excerpt:

The workplace that we know today is rapidly changing. Competition for highly skilled workers is fierce, employees have become more mobile (due, in part, to alternative work arrangements or outsourcing), and there are often several generations of employees working alongside one another with different workplace approaches and perspectives. Developing employee benefit and compensation ...