October 2022 E-Update

Click here to view entire E-Update as a PDF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS The Practical Implications of the DOL’s Proposed Independent Contractor Test Employee or independent contractor? The determination has consequences for various “stakeholders.” For more, click here. The White House’s COVID-19 “Playbook” – Preparing Workplaces for Fall and Winter The White […]

Employers of Maryland employees recently may have received various notices regarding a new state program – MarylandSaves. While employers tend to view “mandatory” (more on that later) government programs with some skepticism, this program is intended to benefit Maryland employers and their employees by encouraging saving for retirement and providing […]

(This case summary comes with the warning: “Don’t try this at in your workplace.”) As we have previously discussed (in our September 2022 E-Update and March 2022 E-Update, for example), courts are quick to find that the single use of the “N” word in the workplace can create a hostile […]

The General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board has issued a memorandum directing NLRB staff attorneys to pursue settlements of unfair labor practice claims in place of seeking court-ordered injunctive relief, for the stated purpose of better focusing the agency’s resources. While the merits of an unfair labor practice […]

In reversing a federal trial court’s decision in favor of the employer on an employee’s reverse race discrimination claim, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit noted that the employer “told two incompatible stories about both how and why” it made the promotion decision at issue. In Runkel […]

E-mail policies have been a topic of intense scrutiny by the National Labor Relations Board. Although employers are permitted to implement policies that prohibit non-business use, such policies must be enforced consistently, as the NLRB reiterated in a recent case applicable to unionized and non-unionized employers alike. In T-Mobile USA, […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected an employee’s claim that her employer conducted an inadequate investigation into her harassment complaint – even though the harassment stopped – because it did not handle it as she thought it should have been handled. The employee’s argument combines several […]

As we discussed in our October 2021 E-update, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit previously found that pre-shift time spent booting up a computer may be compensable work time where the use of the computer is integral and indispensable to the employee’s work. And now the Ninth […]