Legal Solutions At Work

Business owners are often compelled to meet staffing needs with independent contractors in lieu of employees in order to save money on taxes, benefits and sometimes pay (minimum wage and overtime). In doing so, they risk increasing federal (DOL, IRS, EEOC), state (Wage & Hour, Unemployment, HR) and even local/county scrutiny, as well as potentially… More

The EEOC continues to fine tune its guidance regarding the interplay between COVID-19 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and other equal employment opportunity laws. Six guidelines of particular importance for employers are summarized below from the full EEOC guidance: 1. Employers are entitled to ask why an employee did not report… More

On August 13, 2020, the Mayor of D.C. enacted an emergency law that mandates workplace safety protections for all D.C. workplaces. The Protecting Businesses and Workers from COVID-19 Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (the “Emergency Law”) will be in effect until November 10, 2020, but could be extended due to the current pandemic. Many employers… More

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced revised regulations further clarifying the implementation of the Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) in response to a recent ruling in the Southern District of New York invalidating prior interpretations of the FFCRA as summarized in a previous alert.  … More

Join us (virtually) — we will run through some real-world situations and crowd-source possible answers to complicated questions. Sign-up through the link below, or reach out to me directly with questions: https://bit.ly/3mljwX8 Contact info:Meredith S. Campbell Chair, Employment and Labor GroupShulman Rogers [email protected] | T 301.255.0550 | F 301.230.2891

On August 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued several new opinion letters addressing compliance issues related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Two letters of particular interest address the fluctuating workweek and expense reimbursement.   FLSA2020-14 restates the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD’s) long held position that an employee’s work… More

Do you know how many hours your employees work while teleworking from home? If not, now may be a good time to review and implement policies and practices that accurately track this information. Doing so may avoid future wage and hour claims for you non-exempt employees. (As a quick reminder, non-exempt employees typically are paid… More

A deadline requiring notice to employees furloughed longer than six months under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (the “WARN Act”) may be quickly approaching for employers who laid off or furloughed employees around mid-March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The WARN Act generally requires employers with 100 or more employees to… More

Recently filed litigation by McDonald’s Corp. against its former CEO Steve Easterbrook highlights the importance of conducting thorough and complete investigations at the first report of impropriety. In this instance, McDonald’s is seeking to recover tens of millions of dollars paid to Easterbrook in severance and benefits after he was fired having admitted to engaging… More

Employee complaints are often the cost of doing business. Minor concerns can always be addressed, but any complaint of significance should be promptly and thoroughly investigated. Why? Offices are not perfect and mistakes will happen. Early investigation and prompt response can go a long way towards preventing a problem from becoming a tragedy.  Employees —… More