Oakland’s Emergency Paid Sick Leave Ordinance Poster Now Available

Scheduling employees in retail and fast food establishments will now be a costly and confusing obstacle for employers. On May 30, 2017, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law a legislative package consisting of five bills, collectively dubbed the “Fair Workweek” legislation.

Maintaining a company anti-harassment policy on a bulletin board and website is not enough to avoid liability for sexual discrimination according to a recent decision. On July 20, 2016, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals revived a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a school board’s clerical employee who alleged inappropriate comments and touching from a manager. While the board’s policy manual contained reasonable policy and complaint procedures to prevent harassment, the court found evidence the board made insufficient efforts to train the alleged harasser and other employees about such policies. This case clarifies the scope of an important affirmative defense for employers and demonstrates the importance of clearly explaining policies to employees.

The United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued an opinion letter, FLSA2018-29, on December 21, 2018, concluding that members of a religious organization were not subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) based on the ministerial exception and, as an additional reason, because the members did not expect compensation for the work performed.