Labor & Employment Developments Blog

Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced its long-anticipated final rule finding that the vast majority of non-compete agreements constitute unfair methods of competition, and are thus invalid. An estimated 30 million employees are covered by non-compete agreements, representing nearly one in five U.S. workers. Thus, this announced rule has the potential to significantly impact the labor market, as well as cause a shift in employers’ business strategies.

On April 15, 2024 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced its finalized regulations of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). Effective last year, the PWFA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with known physical limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. But while the law went into effect on June 27, 2023, the EEOC is just now announcing its final rule providing guidance as to how this law will be interpreted and administered. 

Terminating an employee is often a long process involving warnings and documentation of performance issues. However, there are several scenarios that may call for immediate termination of employment. Employers often view these scenarios as safe from an employment law perspective but there can be hidden risks. 

In this new podcast episode, recent cases and news from the world of Labor & Employment Law will be discussed.

Many employees today use a phone in connection with their work.  Some employers provide employees with phones and others allow or require their employees to use a personal phone. In either case, employee phone use creates a host of potential issues for employers. In this episode, 5 issues related to employee phone use will be considered.

In this new podcast episode, recent cases and news from the world of Labor & Employment Law will be discussed.

It is a new year and there is a lot going on in the world of employment law. This episode will cover seven (7) issues to keep an eye on in 2024.

On January 9, 2024, the Department of Labor announced that the changes to its independent contractor rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which were proposed last year will go into effect starting March 11, 2024. This new standard rescinds the independent contractor status rule announced in 2021, reverting back to the Department of Labor’s previous interpretation.

In this holiday episode, we take a look back at the biggest employment law issues covered on the podcast in the past year and consider whether employers have been naughty or nice.

With the passage of Issue 2, Ohio becomes the 24th state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. An even larger number of states have legalized medical marijuana use. What does this mean for employers in Ohio and in other states that have legalized marijuana on some level? How do these laws impact employers' efforts to maintain a drug-free workplace?