April 2024 E-Update

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Lessons for Employers from the US DOL’s $1.2 Million Settlement Announcement

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced a $1.2 million settlement with a concrete contractor for multiple violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and employers can draw a number of lessons from this announcement as to widely varying topics: misclassification of employees as independent contractors, recordkeeping and payment, misclassification of non-exempt employees as exempt, and travel time.  For more, click here.

What’s the Difference Between a Joint Employer and a Single Employer Anyway?

A recent case from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit highlighted the confusion that can occur between these two different mechanisms to hold separate companies liable for the same violation under the National Labor Relations Act (and other employment laws). For more, click here.

Supreme Court Broadly Defines Transportation Workers for Purposes of Arbitration Exemption

On April 12, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that significantly broadens the definition of a transportation worker who is exempt from coverage under the Federal Arbitration Act beyond those working only in the transportation industry. For more, click here.

 

Union Representatives May Attend OSHA Workplace Inspections.  On April 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a Final Rule “clarifying the rights of employees to authorize a representative to accompany an OSHA compliance officer during an inspection of their workplace.”  For more, click here.

Hostile Work Environment Harassment May Be Based on Disability.  Employees may bring a hostile work environment claim arising from disability, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. For more, click here.

Deposition Questions May Violate the NLRA.  An employer’s relevant and legitimate questions during an employee’s deposition in a separate lawsuit may still violate the National Labor Relations Act, according to the National Labor Relations Board. For more, click here.

An Employee Using Marijuana Is Not Protected Under the ADA.  Although many states have legalized the use of medical and/or recreational marijuana, it still remains an illegal drug under federal law – and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently held that a marijuana user was therefore not protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.  For more, click here.

New Discrimination Protections in Maryland’s Anne Arundel and Montgomery Counties. Employers with employees in Anne Arundel and Montgomery Counties should be aware of developments that increase the protections for employees against discrimination.   For more, click here.

 

A recent EEOC press release warns employers not to assert a job elimination as the reason for an employee’s termination unless the job truly is being eliminated. For more, click here.