Workforce Bulletin

by Allen B. Roberts, Amy J. Traub, and Christina J. Fletcher

Religious organizations and those they employ have anticipated guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court's first opinion addressing the ministerial exception in the employment discrimination context. With its January 11, 2012, decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. EEOC, U.S., No. 10-553, the Court clarified that the First Amendment's Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses bar the government from interfering with the "decision of a religious group to fire one of its ministers." The Court ...

By:  Evan Rosen

As Hospitalty Labor and Employment Law Blog readers are aware, on August 30, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) issued a rule requiring employers to post notices informing employees of their right to join or form a union.  We blogged about the impact of the notice and its requirements on hospitality employers here.  The rule was originally supposed to go into effect in November, but was subsequently pushed back to January 31, 2012 as a result of mounting criticism against the rule.  Indeed, several lawsuits have been filed by business ...

By: Kara M. Maciel

As hoteliers and hospitality employers know, the upcoming March 15, 2012 deadline for the 2010 ADA Standards will have significant impact on hotel operations. Some of the regulations involve new features that previously had not been regulated by the ADA, including swimming pools, spas, exercise facilities, golf and sauna and steam rooms.  All newly constructed recreational facilities built after March 15, 2012 must comply with the new standards; whereas, existing facilities must meet the new standards as soon as readily achievable.  For hoteliers, some of ...

The Employer Defense Law Blog welcomes a new sibling!  The Health Employment and Labor (HEAL) blog will include updates about timely issues related to labor and employment issues that affect health care and life sciences companies.

The HEAL blog is an idea that stems from the Epstein Becker Green’s Health Employment and Labor Group, which combines the strengths of the Firm’s two founding national practices – Health Care and Life Sciences and Labor and Employment. EBG attorneys have a deep knowledge of both the labor and employment field and wanted to create a blog that would ...

The Health Employment and Labor (HEAL) blog will include updates about timely issues related to labor and employment issues that affect health care and life sciences companies.
 
The HEAL blog is an idea that stems from the Epstein Becker Green’s Health Employment and Labor Group, which combines the strengths of the Firm’s two founding national practices – Health Care and Life Sciences and Labor and Employment. EBG attorneys have a deep knowledge of both the labor and employment field and wanted to create a blog that would quickly inform and educate employers about the ...

by Marisa S. Ratinoff, Susan Gross Sholinsky, Eric A. Cook, and Jennifer A. Goldman

California’s Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2011 (“CAWTPA”) went into effect on January 1, 2012. The CAWTPA requires most private-sector employers to provide notice to non-exempt employees of certain wage payment information, among other things. As we previously reported (see Act Now Advisory “New California Laws Increase Penalties for Employee Misclassification and Wage Theft”), the CAWTPA requires the Labor Commissioner (“Commissioner”) to create a template for employers to ...

by Donald S. Krueger & D. Martin Stanberry

New York state courts appear primed to resolve important questions about competitive bidding for public contracts in New York City and the ability of contractors to successfully challenge city officials’ actions that directly affect the wage and benefit components of their bids.

Under New York law, a contractor awarded a public contract by the state or a municipality must pay the “prevailing rate” for wages and fringe benefits to their workers performing services under that contract. These prevailing rates are established by the ...

by James P. Flynn

On Monday, January 9, 2012, Governor Chris Christie signed into the law the New Jersey Trade Secrets Act (NJTSA), the Garden State’s version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA).  New Jersey, thus, becomes the forty-seventh state to adopt some form of UTSA.  While the New Jersey Act will promote some level of uniformity in the approach to trade secrets issues, New Jersey specific changes to the uniform act promise that this statute will build upon, rather than depart from, New Jersey’s common law tradition of protection of trade secrets and other valuable business ...

In accordance with the briefing schedule issued last December, initial briefs have been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court for its judicial review of certain issues under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (“PPACA”).  The issues to be reviewed by the Court include whether (i) the minimum coverage provisions under PPACA and individual mandate to buy health insurance is a valid exercise of Congress’ power under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, (ii) the Anti-Injunction Act will prevent a ruling from the Court until such time as a tax is actually collected under ...

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

One of the questions we are most frequently asked by small employers is about the so-called "Rule of 10"; i.e., the long-perpetuated myth that OSHA does not have jurisdiction over employers or workplaces with fewer than 10 employees.  This is a commonly misunderstood policy, so let's set the record straight.

The short answer is, unless you are a small farming operation, OSHA does have jurisdiction in almost every circumstance.  There are some partial exemptions and exclusions from certain types of OSHA activity, such as ...