NLRB – Reinstatement – Employee Fired over Facebook Post Reinstated with Full Back Pay by NLRB

Via JD Journal

On Thursday, last week, the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of an employee fired by his company over making a Facebook post on working conditions. In the decision given on May 2, the administrative law judge presiding on the matter ordered reinstatement with full back pay. … Continue Reading

Compensation – Unpaid Interns Can Be Expensive

NLRB Releases Guidance on Workplace Investigation Confidentiality Policies

By Hunton & Williams LLP

Furthering its controversial ruling in Banner Health System d/b/a Banner Estrella Medical Center, 358 NLRB No. 93 (July 30, 2012), the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB’s”) Office of the General Counsel released a memorandum providing additional guidance on the confidentiality of internal workplace investigations. Banner Health held that to require confidentiality of investigations, an employer must show more than a generalized concern with protecting the integrity of its investigations. Rather, an employer must “determine whether in any give[n] investigation witnesses need[ed] protection, evidence [was] in danger of being destroyed, testimony [was] in danger of being fabricated, and there [was] a need to prevent a cover up.” … Continue Reading

Fair Compensation to Non-Family Talent in a Family Run Business

ACA’s New Math: Employers are Cutting Part Time Hours Instead of Adding Benefits for Part Time Workers

ACA’s NEW MATH

By Chad Terhune, Los Angeles Times

Many part-timers are facing a double whammy from President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.   ACA requires large employers offering health insurance to include part-time employees working 30 hours a week or more. But rather than provide health care to more workers, a growing number of employers are cutting back employee hours instead.   … Continue Reading

LMFAO Sues Unlicensed Talent Agent for Violation of Labor Code

With possibly $7 million on the line, a trial begins on Monday where the successful electronic duo attempts to demonstrate that Rene McLean acted as an unlicensed talent agent.

By Eriq Gardner

At a trial starting on Monday, LMFAO will be shouting “TAA” at RPMGRP.  LMFAO is the Los Angeles-based electronic pop duo of Stefan Kendal Gordy (RedFoo) and Skyler Austen Gordy (SkyBlu). RPMGRP is the chart-topping duo’s former management firm run by Rene McLean.  And the “TAA” stands for the Talent Agencies Act, the first gauntlet that RPMGRP faces in hopes of collecting $7 million of money allegedly owed from LMFAO.

The coming trial emanates from a March, 2012 lawsuit filed in LA Superior Court.   After LMFAO was sued and served papers when they arrived to perform on American Idol, the Gordys took a step common among artists in this position: LMFAO filed a petition at the California Labor Commissioner to deem McLean as violating the California law that says only licensed talent agents can procure employment for clients. … Continue Reading

How to Legally Question a Staffer’s Disability Accommodation Request

by Dan Wisniewski

What should you do if you doubt an employee’s need for a disability accommodation?

Veteran Hiring – Facial Disfigurement Discrimination

Douglas Keene is a jury consultant in Austin, Texas.  His article discusses how attorneys should interact with a facially disfigured client in front of a jury (plaintiff or defendant), and how juries might perceive a disfigured plaintiff in a facial disfigurement discrimination case.  Although the article springs from Roger Ebert’s disfigurement due to cancer surgery, HR Gazette believes that the analysis applies equally to veterans.  As noted by Marilynn Marchione in USA Today:

“Thousands [of veterans] are disfigured, as many as 200 of them so badly that they may need face transplants. One-quarter of battlefield injuries requiring evacuation included wounds to the face or jaw, one study found.”  

As employers reach out to returning veterans, we must be prepared to see, interview and hire veterans with facial disfigurement.  This article talks about the obstacles they face and the employer, manager and co-worker behavior that can reduce the initial discomfort and self-consciousness that comes with being human and being different. — Editor’s Note.

Jury Expert Article:  ”Facial disfigurement is too disturbing, or why I won’t hire you”

By Douglas Keene

Employee Wellness Programs: When do they cross the legal line?

Employee Wellness programs could cross legal line.

Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Leave Administration in the United States

“Job-protected parental leave is crucial for the health and economic security of babies, pregnant women and new mothers, and their families. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 entitles eligible employees— both female and male—to 12 weeks of unpaid leave around the time of the birth or adoption of a child, as long as they work in firms with at least 50 employees, and meet minimum job tenure and working hour requirements.”  [Leave administration is complex and fraught with risk for employers.  The Institute for Women's Policy Research provides a handy reference for employers and employees. -- Editor's Note]

by Ariane Hegewisch, Yuko Hara (May 2013)

The United States is one of only four countries globally, and the only high-income country, without a statutory right to paid maternity leave for employees. In all but a few states, it is up to the employer to decide whether to provide paid leave.   … Continue Reading