JERRY L. PIGSLEY | Woods Aitken LLP A federal court in Pennsylvania on January 23, 2024, gave INEDA members guidance in a case concerning claims brought by an employee who worked remotely for almost two years against her employer who determined she could not perform all of the essential functions of her job from home. She contended that her employer’s refusal to grant her request for a permanent work from home accommodation was discriminatory under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Galette v. Avenue 365 Lending Services LLC, U.S. Dist. Ct. E.D.Pa. Jan. 23, 2024). When she began working for the… Read More »
Employers with a comprehensive drug testing policy as part of their drug-free workplace program often include reasonable suspicion testing, also known as for-cause or probable-cause testing. Reasonable suspicion testing must be based on individualized suspicion of a particular employee, and employers need to document objective facts that would suggest to a reasonable person that the individual is under the influence in violation of company policy. Supervisors, managers, and HR professionals should be trained in recognizing the signs of substance misuse in the workplace. This fall, the Iowa-Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association (INEDA) sponsored a Trucking Regulations Workshop. Sheryl Phelps with CJ… Read More »
On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Act”) into law. There are two paid leave sections of the Act that private employers with fewer than 500 employees and public agencies must be aware of: (1) the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (the “EFMLEA”) and (2) the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (the “EPSLA”). Both provisions will take effect before April 2, 2020 and expire on December 31, 2020. The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act The EFMLEA is an expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) that requires private employers with less… Read More »
[Author: Woods & Aitken, LLP, 03.2020 | Keywords: HR, Employee Policies] On January 12, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule updating its regulations governing joint-employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The final rule is to take effect on March 16, 2020. JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY The final rule clarifies when individuals or entities are joint employers under the FLSA. Under the FLSA, an employee may have – in addition to his or her employer – one or more joint employers who are jointly and severally liable for the employee’s required federal minimum… Read More »
[2017; R-2017 | Keywords: Overtime Exemptions, Overtime, FLSA] The Fair Standards Act provides that employers subject to its provisions must pay its employees the specified minimum wage and overtime compensation. There are various exemptions from the Act, or portions of the Act, which are based on factors such as type of business activity, the amount of business and the particular job performed by an employee. Small Dealer Exemption Businesses with annual sales volume of less than $500,000 are exempt from the minimum wage and overtime provisions. However, any business previously covered under the minimum wage law, but now exempt, must… Read More »
[Source: Bob Evnen, Woods & Aitken LLP, 07.17 | Keywords: Human Resources, HR Policy, Tattoos] Do you have a policy on tattoos, branding and body piercing by your employees? If not, it is something you may want to consider. It has been widely reported that the Philadelphia Police Department implemented a new tattoo policy effective March 1. This first‑ever Philadelphia PD tattoo policy forbids on‑duty officers from having “offensive, extremist, indecent, racist or sexist tattoos.” The policy was implemented following a controversy regarding one of its police bike officers who was photographed with a tattoo of a spread‑winged eagle closely resembling… Read More »
