Workforce Bulletin

By:  John F. Fullerton III and Matthew J. Tronzano

Mandatory class action waivers may have received an important seal of approval as the result of a recent decision arising in the financial services industry.  On February 21, 2013, a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) disciplinary hearing panel permitted Charles Schwab & Company, Inc. to maintain its predispute arbitration provision in its customer agreement that includes a class action waiver (pdf).  With this development, now may be the time for firms to evaluate and consider class action waivers in their arbitration ...

By:  Kara Maciel and Elizabeth Bradley

On March 8, 2013, amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) take effect which change the provisions governing military caregiver leave for veterans, qualifying exigency leave for paternal care, and job-protected leave for airline personnel and flight crews.

Relevant to hospitality employers, the amendments extend the right to take military caregiver leave to eligible employees whose family members are recent veterans with serious injuries or illnesses, and expand the definition of a serious injury or illness to ...

In March of last year, we answered five frequently asked questions related to OSHA inspections.  After receiving much positive feedback about that post and a few new OSHA inspection-related questions, we decided to launch a regular series on the OSHA Law Update blog with posts dedicated to OSHA Frequently Asked Questions.  For each post in this OSHA FAQ Series, we include both a text response and a video/webinar with slides and audio.

In last month’s OSHA FAQ #4 we talked about the importance of and strategies for establishing an internal OSHA Inspection Team.  In this month’s OSHA FAQ ...

Please join Epstein Becker Green's Labor & Employment practitioners on March 5, 2013 as we continue to review the Affordable Care Act and its ongoing impact on hospitality employers and their group health plans and programs. The webcast will begin at 12:00pm EST. Contact Elizabeth Gannon for more information. egannon@ebglaw.com or 202-861-1850.

By: Allen B. Roberts

I wrote the February 2013 version of Take 5 Views You Can Use, a newsletter published by the Labor and Employment practice of Epstein Becker Green. In it, I discuss an alternative view of five topics that are likely to impact hospitality employers in 2013 and beyond. One topic involved the potential for labor organizing by pop-up unions in break-out units.  

Despite some perceptions of cohesiveness and political acumen, influence and wherewithal following the 2012 election cycle, labor unions represent only about 7.3 percent of the private sector ...

By Michael Kun

We have written previously in this blog about California’s obscure “suitable seating” law, which requires that some employers provide “suitable seating” to some employees.

In short, the plaintiffs’ bar recently discovered a provision buried in California’s Wage Orders requiring employers to provide “suitable seating” to employees when the nature of their jobs would reasonably permit it. The provision was not designed to cover employees in the hospitality industry who often stand to show that they are ready to assist customers. Instead, it was ...

By Margaret C. Thering and Eric J. Conn

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit closed out 2012 with a decision that dealt a blow to employers defending against alleged violations of OSHA standards.  Specifically, in a December 5, 2012 decision in a case on appeal from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, the Sixth Circuit upheld an OSHA citation that alleged that an employer failed to properly barricade the swing radius of a crane.  See All Erection & Crane Rental Corp. v. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, No. 11-4242 (6th Cir. Dec. 5, 2012).

The January/February 2013 issue of Feed & Grain Magazine featured an article entitled “Severe Violator Enforcement Program Defies Constitution” authored by Eric J. Conn, the Head of EBG’s national OSHA Practice Group.  The article expands on a series of posts here on the OSHA Law Update blog regarding OSHA’s controversial Severe Violator Enforcement Program (“SVEP”).

The article provides a detailed explanation about the SVEP, including:

1. The origin and intent of OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program;
2. the consequences to employers who “qualify” ...

By Amanda R. Strainis-Walker and Eric J. Conn

February 1^st is an important annual OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping deadline for all U.S. employers, except for those with only ten or fewer employees or who operate in enumerated low hazard industries such as retail, service, finance, insurance or real estate (see the exempted industries at Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 1904).  Specifically, by February 1^st every year, employers are required by OSHA’s Recordkeeping regulations to:

1. Review their OSHA 300 Log;
2. Verify that the entries are complete and accurate;
3. Correct any ...

Epstein Becker Green is pleased to announce the availability of a Wage and Hour Division Investigation Checklist, which provides financial services employers with valuable information about wage and hour investigations and audits conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).  Like EBG’s first-of-its kind Wage and Hour App, which provides detailed information about federal and state laws, the Checklist is a free resource offered by EBG.

The Checklist provides step-by-step guidance on the following issues: preparation before a Wage and Hour Division investigation of the ...