Minnesota has not passed a medical marijuana law, but 14 states and the District of Columbia have, and occasionally such laws have employment law implications. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit two weeks ago against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and the manager of its Battle Creek, Michigan store for wrongfully firing an employee for [...]
Medical Marijuana in the Workplace
Managing employees with disabilities
Employers often struggle, and rightly so, with deciding how best to treat employees who have some physical or mental impairment, especially if the impairment seems to be affecting their work performance. It is often very hard to balance the demands of expected workplace performance with an employee’s rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) [...]
Broader FMLA rights for same-sex couples and others
On June 22, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a new interpretation of the definition of “son or daughter” under the Family and Medical Leave Act which will expand the number of employees who are eligible for leave, especially those in a same sex relationship.
As background, the FMLA entitles an eligible employee to take [...]
Accommodating Employees’ Religious Beliefs
A decision earlier this week by a Federal District Court Judge here in Minneapolis offers some very useful guidance on accommodating requests for religious accommodations by employees.
Celestica Corporation operates a manufacturing plant in Arden Hills. Adecco USA provides temporary employees to Celestica. The plaintiffs are practicing Muslims who allege that Celestica discriminated against them by [...]
Tips on protecting customer relationships in the Blackberry age
Here is a link to a good article by two lawyers from Atlanta, Benjamin Flink and Anne Andrews, on how to protect your confidential information and customer relationships in this age of data mobility. While it mostly focuses on Georgia law, the article provides some good practical suggestions/reminders, including using confidentiality agreements with employees; instituting [...]
More on background checks
I wrote about this issue back in September here, and today there is news that several states are considering laws to limit the use of credit reports in hiring.
Supporters of such laws say they are necessary because an increasing number of employers are doing credit checks even though there is no proof that bad credit [...]
The Pitfalls of Background Checks
I often warn clients to be careful about how they conduct background checks because of potential claims of race discrimination. Now comes a lawsuit illustrating that concern.
A class action filed in New York yesterday alleges that the management consulting firm Accenture discriminates against African Americans and Latinos in the way it conducts its background checks. In [...]
Are your interns really employees?
This recent article in the New York Times should remind us that employers can get themselves into trouble by offering “unpaid internships” that are not really internships. Agencies in several different states have investigated the use of internships and have, in some cases, fined employers who are actually using the interns to provide unpaid labor. As [...]
An employee’s e-mails to her lawyer are protected
A decision this week by New Jersey’s Supreme Court adds another layer to the ongoing debate over employee’s right to privacy within the workplace. The Court concluded that an employee, Marina Stengart, could reasonably expect that e-mail communication with her lawyer through her personal, password-protected, web-based e-mail account would remain private, and that sending and [...]
New Tax Break for Employers That Hire Unemployed Workers
On March 18, 2010, President Obama signed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (”HIRE”), which provides a number of tax credits designed to stimulate employment, including one for business that hire unemployed workers.
Employers of a “qualified employee” are excused from paying the employer’s portion of Social Security taxes on that employee’s wages in 2010. A [...]
