Workforce Bulletin

By: James S. Frank and D. Martin Stanberry (Admission Pending)

On August 23, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) ruled that a hospital whose nurses are represented by a union does not have the authority to unilaterally implement an employee flu vaccination program because, in the Board’s view, ensuring patient safety is not a core purpose of the enterprise.  Virginia Mason Hospital, 357 N.L.R.B. No. 53 (August 23, 2011).  Specifically, the Board rejected the employer’s reliance on what is known as the “Peerless defense,” and held that the National Labor ...

by Susan Gross Sholinsky , Dean L. Silverberg, Steven M. Swirsky, and Jennifer A. Goldman

New York City employers take note: under the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”), it is now considerably more difficult for employers to establish “undue hardship” in the context of denying an employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation due to his or her religious observance or practice. While previously silent on the issue, the NYCHRL now includes a definition of the term “undue hardship,” as follows: “an accommodation requiring significant expense or ...

By: Michael A. Kalish

The following does not depict an actual interview.  Rather, it is a fictitious illustration (at least for now).

Interviewer:    So tell me why you’re interviewing for the position we’ve advertised.

Interviewee:   That’s an easy one.  Because I’m unemployed and I need a job.

Interviewer:    What happened with your last job?

Interviewee:   I wasn’t very good, and they needed to reduce headcount, and I was an easy place to start.

Interviewer:    There appears to be gaps on your resume between all six of the jobs you’ve had.  Six months here, two years there.  What ...

by Susan Gross Sholinsky, Dean L. Silverberg, Steven M. Swirsky, and Jennifer A. Goldman

New York City employers take note: under the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”), it is now considerably more difficult for employers to establish “undue hardship” in the context of denying an employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation due to his or her religious observance or practice. While previously silent on the issue, the NYCHRL now includes a definition of the term “undue hardship,” as follows: “an accommodation requiring significant expense or ...

By:  Kara M. Maciel and Mark M. Trapp

On August 23, 2011 the Washington D.C. area experienced a 5.9 magnitude earthquake. A week later, a “labor law earthquake” of far greater magnitude had its epicenter in a federal agency in D.C. In the coming weeks and months, its aftershocks will be felt by unprepared employers, particularly those operating hotels, restaurants, spas and clubs in the hospitality industry.

In an opinion that America’s largest private sector labor union called a“monumental victor[y] … for unions,” the National Labor Relations Board ...

By:  Robert S. Groban, Jr.

Many of our hospitality clients are revisiting immigration requirements to see if there are any advantages that they have overlooked. One overlooked advantage is the USCIS’s E-Verify system. Employers know that the IRCA requires them to satisfy the Form I-9 requirements.  Many have found this difficult to implement and have been the targets of worksite enforcement operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) that are costly to defend and often result in significant fines. Traditionally, many hospitality employers have looked at ...

By: James P. Flynn

The New Jersey Supreme Court issued a lengthy, sweeping decision on August 24^th on the standards for evaluating eyewitness testimony in criminal cases that is garnering national, and even international, attention.  See NY Times report by clicking here; Wall Street Journal report by clicking here; Reuters report by clicking here. Though the case entitled State v. Larry Henderson and its companion case entitled State v. Cecilia, both available here,  involved eyewitness identification testimony, the Supreme Court dealt at great length with more general issues ...

By: Dean R. Singewald II

A recent settlement with the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (the “OFCCP”) has once again made clear that, if an employer is a federal government supply and service contractor or subcontractor subject to the affirmative action/non-discrimination obligations imposed by Executive Order 11246, including the obligation to develop and maintain a written affirmative action program, it is imperative that the employer properly track its applicants and hires.

Such tracking should include documenting the gender and ...

Congratulations to our fellow EBG bloggers:  LexisNexis has selected Epstein Becker Green's Wage & Hour Defense Blog as a nominee for its Top 25 Labor and Employment Law Blogs. LexisNexis annually honors a select group of blogs that set the online standard for a given industry. This year, LexisNexis expanded Top Blogs to the Labor and Employment Law Community.

To narrow down to its final list of 25 honorees, LexisNexis is seeking feedback and input from the online community. If you find Epstein Becker Green's Wage & Hour Defense Blog useful and informative, we would appreciate your ...

On August 12, 2011, the Departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services released Proposed Regulations to provide guidance to individuals who enroll in qualified health plans through State-based Exchanges, as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act, and to provide guidance to Exchanges that make qualified health plans available to individuals and employers.  The Exchanges will be one-stop marketplaces where consumers can buy private health insurance plans.  The premium tax credit is designed to help individuals and families with incomes between 100% and 400% of the ...