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The Maryland General Assembly is considering a bill to ban noncompete agreements for licensed healthcare professionals. House Bill 1388 and Senate Bill 1182 provide as follows: A noncompete or conflict of interest provision in an employment contract or a similar document or agreement that restricts the ability of an employee […]

On January 9, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its final rule governing the standard for determining independent contractor status. The rule will be published in the Federal Register on January 10, and take effect 90 days later, on March 11, 2024. The final rule issued by the DOL […]

On June 29, 2023, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action in student admissions decisions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. What does the Court’s holding mean for […]

On June 29, 2023, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious accommodations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act must be provided to employees or prospective employees unless the employer is able to demonstrate that the burden is substantial. The Court rejected the “de minimus” standard as a […]

On February 22, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, clarifying that, in order to qualify for the highly compensated employee (HCE) exemption from the Fair Labor Standard Act’s overtime mandate, the employee must be paid on a salary basis, and […]

Employee or independent contractor? The determination has consequences for various “stakeholders.” Unions legally may organize employees, but not independent contractors. Companies must withhold taxes from employee pay; not so with independent contractors, who are responsible for making these payments on their own. The government as a “stakeholder” experiences less “tax […]

On November 17, 2020, the EEOC issued a proposed update to the agency’s guidance on religious discrimination in the workplace, taking account of the “altered legal landscape” in this area since 2008, when the guidance last was updated. The proposed guidance addresses every aspect of the obligations of employers and […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently issued a decision that is remarkable for its focus on the need to balance the prerogative of employers to make decisions about the workplace in the context of accommodating employees with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Facts of […]

On July 8, 2020, the United States Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision held that the “ministerial exemption” which prohibits courts from considering employment disputes of certain employees of religiously affiliated organizations, applied to two Catholic school lay teachers. Therefore, their claims of discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment […]

The current COVID-19 crisis has had a significant impact on many employees who have had to take leave for COVID-19-related reasons. While the Families First Coronavirus Response Act provides paid leave to certain employees, and some states and local jurisdictions have implemented specific COVID-19 paid leave requirements, in addition to […]