Protecting Employers Since 1985
Employers have a legal obligation to accommodate work-related conflicts posed by an employee’s or applicant’s disability or religious beliefs. This seems simple enough – be “reasonable.” Yet as many business professionals and lawyers know all too well, there is a great deal of room for differences of opinion as to what constitutes a “reasonable accommodation.”…
Read MoreAdministering employee leaves of absence is complicated. For employers of 50 or more employees there obviously are the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and D.O.L. regulations to deal with. Then there is the EEOC, which has interpreted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to require leaves of absence, or extending them under certain circumstances…
Read MoreOn June 6th newly appointed General Counsel to the National Labor Relations Board, Peter B. Robb, issued comprehensive new guidance on employee handbook provisions. The guidelines direct the Board’s Regional Directors throughout the country to reverse course from years of decisions issued by the Board majority appointed by then President Obama. Under the Obama Board…
Read MoreAsking job applicants how much they make with their current employer, or what they’ve been paid in prior positions, are common questions in job interviews for many hiring employers. While questions on salary history generally are not per se unlawful – yet – they can land an employer in hot water. The legal theory against…
Read MoreWessels Sherman’s Minnesota office hosted the firm’s annual labor and employment law seminar for employers, accountants, attorneys and other business professionals on April 28, 2017 at the beautiful Radisson Blu, Mall of America hotel. James Sherman, firm President/CEO and Founder/Managing Shareholder of our Minneapolis office, welcomed the room full of attendees who came from four…
Read MoreIn Minnesota, as in most every state, terminated employees are not eligible for unemployment benefits if they are dismissed for misconduct. In 2003, the legislature amended the statute to define “employment misconduct” as “any intentional, negligent, or indifferent conduct, on the job or off the job that displays clearly: (1) a serious violation of the…
Read MoreMinnesota statutes section 181.9413 permits employees to use “personal sick leave benefits” provided by their employers, for absences due to their child’s illness or injury. In essence, then, state law “rewrites” employer sick leave benefits which, not surprisingly, typically require that the employee must be sick to use the benefit. The statute permits employees to…
Read MoreFrom President Trump’s Recent Executive Order and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Anticipated Decision this spring on Use of Public Bathrooms According to One’s Gender Identity, to a Case Pending in Minnesota Federal Court Involving Claims of Discrimination in Health Care under the Affordable Care Act and the Minnesota Human Rights Act On February 22nd, the…
Read MoreIt is likely pure coincidence that the EEOC issued its position on national origin discrimination within days of the November elections. The guidelines went into effect on November 21, 2016, modifying the EEOC’s previous position on national origin discrimination, issued 15 years ago. The current guidelines are consistent with the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP)…
Read MoreThousands of employers affected by the US Department of Labor’s Minimum Salary Rule for Overtime Pay Exemptions have anxiously awaited the outcome of litigation that blocks the rule from going into effect as intended, on December 1, 2016. A Federal District court in Sherman, Texas ruled just before Thanksgiving that the DOL exceed its authority…
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