Our colleagues Jeffrey H. Ruzal and Carly Baratt
Following is an excerpt:
Take 5 Newsletter – Retail Employers Continue to Face a Myriad of Challenges in the Workplace
This edition of Take 5 highlights compliance with cutting-edge issues—such as pay equity, workplace violence, and artificial intelligence (“AI”)—that have a significant impact on retailers. We also provide an update on National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) compliance and New York City drug testing to assist you in navigating an increasingly complex legal landscape.
Watercooler (and
Retail Roundtable Event Hosted by EBG in New York City
Please join Nathaniel M. Glasser, Elizabeth K. McManus, Jeremy M. Brown, and Joshua A. Stein for an engaging and informative discussion of topical labor and employment issues facing all retailers. The presenters will address cutting-edge employment matters and share best practices in a private forum in which all attendees can freely participate,
Predictive Scheduling is Becoming the New Normal for Hospitality and Retail Industry – Employment Law This Week
Our colleagues Jeff Landes, Jeff Ruzal, and Adriana Kosovych are featured on Employment Law This Week – Predictive Scheduling Laws, the New Normal? – Deep Dive Episode speaking on predictive scheduling laws and the impact on business. Taking the guesswork out of scheduling for wage workers is an attractive proposition for regulators. Laws
Certain Types of On-Call Scheduling Triggers Requirement to Pay Wages
Our colleague Kevin Sullivan at Epstein Becker Green has a post on the Wage and Hour Defense Blog that will be of interest to our readers in the retail industry: “California Court of Appeal Concludes That Certain Types of On-Call Scheduling Triggers Requirement to Pay Wages.”
On February 4, 2019, a divided panel
Massachusetts Attorney General Enforces State Ban the Box Law for First Time, Fining Three Businesses and Issuing Warnings to 17 Others
Massachusetts is one of many states which have adopted legislation, commonly known as a “ban the box” law, prohibiting public and private employers from requesting criminal record information in a prospective employee’s “initial written employment application” and limiting the type and scope of questions an employer may ask a candidate following receipt of an “initial
Five Issues Retail Employers Should Monitor Under the Trump Administration
In the new issue of Take 5, our colleagues examine five employment, labor, and workforce management issues that will continue to be reviewed and remain top of mind for employers under the Trump administration:
Keeping Clear of ADA Accessible Route Claims – the Ninth Circuit Discusses What Constitutes Temporary Obstructions
On March 5, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Chapman v. Pier 1 Imports (U.S.) Inc., 2015 WL 925586 (9th Cir. Mar. 5, 2015) that provides retailers with useful insight into how to manage the issue of “temporary obstructions” to accessible routes under Title
OSHA’s Revised Recordkeeping and Reporting Rules for Retail in 2015
Retailers, get ready for OSHA’s revised recordkeeping and reporting rules, effective January 1, 2015.
As I note in my Act Now Advisory—“What Do OSHA’s Revised Recordkeeping and Reporting Rules Really Mean for Retailers?”—several additional retail industries will be required to keep records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses, and several are no longer
OSHA To Target Exits and Exit Routes
By Eric J. Conn, Head of the OSHA Group at Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
Last month, OSHA issued an enforcement memorandum directing inspectors to scrutinize whether employers provide and maintain adequate means of exit;
i.e., unlocked, unobstructed, and clearly marked exit doors and exit routes and doors that comply with 29 C.F.R. 1910 Subpart E – Means of Egress (specifically, the various requirements of 1910.36). The memo was issued in response to a deadly explosion and ammonia release at a poultry processing plant in China on June 4, 2013, in which at least 120 employees lost their lives, many because they were unable to exit the plant due to blocked or locked exits.
In the enforcement memorandum, OSHA announced that:
“During inspections of all workplaces [Compliance Safety & Health Officers] should be mindful of whether the employer has provided and maintained adequate means of egress from work areas; e.g., adequate number of exit routes are provided, exit routes are free and obstructed, and exit doors are not locked.”
This list of items for review is consistent with the criteria OSHA identified in its Emergency Exit Routes Fact Sheet. Here are the basic requirements for complying with 1910.36 set forth in OSHA’s regulations and the Fact Sheet:
- Employers must determine how many exits routes are required in its building. As a general rule, workplaces must have a minimum of two exits, and possibly more based on the number of employees, the size of the building, and the arrangement of the workplace. One exit route may be allowed if the size of the building, its occupancy, or arrangement allows all employees to evacuate safely.
- Exit routes must be maintained unobstructed,
and the exit doors must remain unlocked from the inside. Specifically, exit routes must be free of stored materials, equipment, and especially explosive or highly flammable furnishings. Exits doors must be conspicuous, visible, free of decoration, and unlocked from the inside. - Exit routes and doors must be properly labeled and maintained. Proper labels include signs that read “EXIT” or “TO EXIT” in plain legible letters, and maintained with adequate lighting. Doors or passages along the exit route that are not exits and do not lead to exits must be marked as “NOT AN EXIT” or labeled such that their non-exit purpose is obvious (e.g., store room, office, etc.).
Although the Enforcement Memorandum features the tragic anecdote about the Chinese poultry plant, OSHA’s Director of the Directorate of Enforcement specifically instructs his enforcement team to look out for egress issues in inspections at “all workplaces.”
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