Workforce Bulletin

Our colleague Steven M. Swirsky at Epstein Becker Green has recently published a post on the Management Memo blog that will be of interest to our readers in the hospitality industry: “NLRB Reverses Position on Confidentiality Concerning Workplace Investigations – Holds That Confidentiality Requirements Are Presumptively Lawful.”

Following is an excerpt:

The National Labor Relations Board, in its December 17^th decision in Apogee Retail LLC d/b/a Unique Thrift Store, has reversed its prior rule and held that employer requirements that employees treat ...

Our colleague Steven M. Swirsky at Epstein Becker Green has recently published a post on the Management Memo blog that will be of interest to our readers in the retail industry: “NLRB Issues Proposed Rule to Scale Back 2014 Expedited Election Rules.”

Following is an excerpt:

The National Labor Relations Board (“Board” or “NLRB”) has announced that it is publishing proposed changes to its Rules and Regulations that will begin to reverse the Board’s 2014 changes, which took effect in 2015, to its representation election rules and procedures commonly ...

Our colleagues Adam C. Abrahms, Brock Olson & Steven M. Swirsky at Epstein Becker Green have recently published a post on the Management Memo blog that will be of interest to our readers in the hospitality industry: “NLRB’s General Counsel Signals Major Shift in Neutrality Agreement Between Employers and Unions Seeking to Organize Their Employees.”

Following is an excerpt:

The original charges alleged that the Employer unlawfully assisted the Union in numerous ways during the Union’s 2018 organizing campaign.  The charges alleged that one such way the ...

Fiduciaries of employee benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) that appoint investment managers (“Appointing Fiduciaries”) will be interested in the opinion of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Scalia v. WPN Corporation, et al (“WPN”) regarding their duty to monitor investment fiduciaries.  Given the potential risk related to a breach this fiduciary duty, the WPN opinion is likely to be an important one for Appointing Fiduciaries.

In WPN, the Department of Labor alleged ...

For businesses growing weary of the seemingly perpetual wave of serial ADA claims (e.g., website accessibility; gift card accessibility), thanks to recent a decision issued by a federal judge in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York (“EDNY”), some may believe that “Christmas came early.”  Last week, EBG achieved an impressive victory, obtaining a complete dismissal of a serial plaintiff’s class action complaint in the case Castillo v. The John Gore Organization.

In Castillo, plaintiff, a King’s County resident, who asserted that she has ...

While the seemingly endless wave of website accessibility cases filed by serial plaintiffs shows no signs of abating (a situation not helped by the United States’ Supreme Court’s denial of Domino’s Petition for Certiorari last month), those who follow accessibility law and the businesses who have been deeply affected by the relentless barrage of serial plaintiffs’ claims, have been waiting for the inevitable “next big thing” that the plaintiff’s bar would pursue en masse under Title III of the ADA.

On Thursday, October 24, we learned the answer when a new wave of ...

The New York City Commission on Human Rights (“the Commission”) published a legal enforcement guidance (“Guidance”) clarifying its standards with respect to discrimination based on actual or perceived immigration status and national origin. The Guidance applies to employers, housing providers, and providers of public accommodations.

As the Guidance explains, “[d]iscrimination based on immigration status often overlaps with discrimination based on national origin and/or religion.” Under the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”), employers with ...

As we previously reported, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (“DFML”) has been providing on-going substantive and procedural regulations and guidance to effectuate the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program (“PFML”), which applies to employers with 25 or more “covered individuals” in the employer’s workforce. Most recently, the DFML issued further guidance (“Guidance”), to clarify when an employer should include 1099-MISC contractors and certain visa holders in their workforce count.

How to Determine if You Meet the ...

Employers seeking information about potential reasonable accommodations, and tips on the interactive process, can turn to the newly updated Job Accommodation Network (JAN) Toolkit.

The Department of Labor provides funding for JAN as a free, comprehensive, online resource to assist businesses in complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to the website, the Toolkit “provides resources to support organizational efforts to accommodate applicants, candidates, and employees with disabilities; to train those serving in roles critical to managing ...

Rules relating to tip credit and pooling have resulted in significant debate among legislators, regulators, and the courts, leading to confusion, further litigation, and, in many cases, substantial liability or settlements involving employers that operate in the hospitality industry.  Today, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) published proposed rulemaking that aims to bring greater clarity to the morass of tip-related legislation, as well as previous agency rules and interpretations.  I describe below some of the notable elements of these proposed rules.

The proposed ...