Articles and Blogs

Confidentiality, Public Relations and Blogging Policies Held to Be Unlawful As we reported in our Employment Law News article in January, the NLRB has been very active in challenging any employer policy that could reasonably be understood by an employee to interfere with rights protected under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).  The NLRA... READ MORE

The Affordable Care Act requires employers who are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide each employee a written notice of certain rights and information.  This notice was to be provided no later than March 1, 2013 to current employees and to any employees hired after that date.  However, the U.S. Department... READ MORE

Sometimes the important things that an employee may be required to do in a job almost never happen.  Take for example a worker at a juvenile detention center who might one day have to physically restrain a violent youth who might be causing trouble at the facility.  It doesn’t happen often, but it certainly could.  Does... READ MORE

Three NLRB Members Not Valid Recess Appointments As we predicted last year, President Obama’s three recess appointments to the NLRB faced a significant constitutional legal challenge.  On January 25, 2012, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in a unanimous opinion ruled that the president’s recess appointments to the NLRB in... READ MORE

A recent federal court opinioncourt opinion highlights the need for employers to evaluate employee requests for reasonable accommodation on an individualized basis – even where, at first glance, an effective accommodation may not be readily apparent.  The ADA is, after all, intended to overcome employment decisions based on stereotypes. A Deaf Applicant Seeks a Lifeguard... READ MORE

The FMLA requires employers with 50 or more employees to grant up to 12 weeks of leave for, among other things, time off that is needed to care for an adult son or daughter over the age of 18 who is “incapable of self-care because of a disability.”  Ever since the Americans with Disabilities... READ MORE

Is Shared Lifting a “Reasonable” Accommodation? Employees who suffer from a bad back and have lifting restrictions always present a challenge to employers who attempt to accommodate those restrictions.  It’s discrimination under the ADA if the employer fails to make a reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a... READ MORE

The NLRB Overrules 50 Years of Precedent Last month, the current NLRB once again left the labor relations world with its mouth agape when it decided that Dues Checkoff provisions will now survive the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”).  Nearly all CBAs have a provision that requires management to withhold from employee... READ MORE

NLRB Judge Rules That Clauses That Are Too Broad Are Illegal As we have seen in the recent months, the NLRB has been very focused on the rights of employees – union and non-union – to talk about their wages, hours and working conditions whether face-to-face or on Facebook.  A decision by an NLRB administrative law... READ MORE

Michigan Governor Signs “Internet Privacy Protection Act.” The Basics of the New Michigan Law On December 28, 2012, Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan signed into law the Internet Privacy Protection Act.  In general, the law, which takes effect immediately, prohibits an employer from requesting that an employee or applicant disclose or provide access to... READ MORE