Author: LP

2015 Check-In – Have you updated your policies and documents?

LP2 Comments

Echeckarlier this year, we posted a checklist outlining key issues and action items for compliance in 2015. With the first quarter coming to a close, we want to remind you of a few important items from that checklist that required changes to your policies and practices, as well as alert you to a new item that requires immediate action.

Change FMLA policy to reflect same-sex spouses.

Effective March 27, 2015, the definition of “spouse” under the FMLA will be amended so that an eligible employee in a legal same-sex marriage will be allowed to take FMLA leave for his or her spouse. Make sure that you change your FMLA policies and practices to reflect this new definition.

Confirm employment applications and processes comply with “Ban the Box.”

As of the first of this year, Illinois employers must wait until an interview has been granted (or, if no interview, until a conditional offer of employment has been made) before asking about criminal history. New Jersey’s new law, effective earlier this month, requires companies to wait even longer. Employers hiring in these states — as well as in other states with similar laws — should ensure that employment applications do not contain criminal background questions and that questions regarding criminal background are not asked until it’s legal to do so.

Comply with new Illinois pregnancy accommodation rules and notice requirements.

As of January 1st, Employers in Illinois are required to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees and applicants who ask for them, to post a notice in the workplace regarding pregnancy accommodation rights, and to include language relating to such rights in their handbooks. Make sure your team is aware of these requirements and that any necessary changes to policies and practices have been made.

FLSA lawsuits on the rise

LPLeave a comment

arrow-riseStatistics released earlier this month by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts show an 8.8% increase in the number of Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) cases in the year ending in September 2014 as compared to the prior year.

This dramatic increase is the result of a variety of factors. First, the law itself has many ambiguities in its terms and definitions. Although the Department of Labor has attempted to reduce ambiguity in its guidance and regulations, many terms and issues are still unresolved and leave open the potential for legal claims. Also, the law is old. Applying a law passed in 1938 to the modern workplace, with drastic advances in technology, can be very difficult and often times leads to confusion. Finally, both employees and the attorneys to whom they may go to challenge a termination are becoming more savvy regarding wage and hour issues. As a result, we are seeing many cases where a terminated employee who comes into an attorney’s office looking to sue for “wrongful termination” walks out with a wage and hour claim – potentially even a class claim.

Employers should continue to review wage and hour practices to make sure that employees are properly classified as exempt or non-exempt and are being paid in accordance with local requirements. In addition, employers with specific concerns about class or collective actions should consider an arbitration program, which would require all claims to be dealt with in arbitration on an individual – not class or collective – basis.

Are You Ready for 2015?

LP1 Comment

checkEach year, LP’s Labor & Employment Practice Group is pleased to provide a short checklist of steps that all companies should consider taking to measure their readiness for the coming year. We hope that you find this 2015 Labor and Employment Law Checklist a helpful guide to best practices for the year ahead.

2015 Labor and Employment Law Compliance Checklist

New Illinois Laws: Payroll Cards and Protection for Pregnant Employees

LP1 Comment

Governor Quinn signed two laws in August that impact Illinois employers — one that expands protections for pregnant applicants and employees and one that sets new requirements for payroll debit cards.

First, under amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act, employers will be required to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant applicants and employees who request them. Examples of pregnancy accommodations that are listed in the amendment include time-off, more frequent or longer breaks, seating, transfer to a less strenuous position or light duty, acquisition or modification of equipment, job restructuring and assistance with manual labor. Under the amendment, it is the employer’s burden to establish that the accommodation would be an undue hardship. Also important, the amendment expands the prohibition on pregnancy discrimination so that it will apply to any employer with one or more employees (rather than only those with 15 or more employees) and prohibits employers from requiring pregnant employees to use an accommodation they didn’t request. Finally, the amendment requires employers to post a notice regarding pregnancy accommodation rights. These new provisions take effect on January 1, 2015.

Second, under an amendment to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, employers are explicitly permitted to use payroll debit cards – often termed “paycards” – but must meet certain requirements. The requirements for paycards set out in the amendment include clearly communicating in writing that use of the paycard is voluntary, obtaining the employee’s voluntary written or electronic consent to use a paycard, providing at least one alternative method of payment to employees, providing employees with an itemized list of paycard fees, and providing employees with a way to obtain all of their wages without fees (and a description of how to do so). The amendment also prohibits paycards that assess certain fees or are linked to any form of credit. These new paycard provisions take effect on January 1, 2015. Employers that use paycards should carefully review the terms of their current paycards to ensure they meet the new Illinois standards and prepare the documents required by the amendment so that they may be issued before year end.

Webinar- Back to School: Employment Law Update

LPLeave a comment

school-suppliesAs fall approaches and students head back to school, The Employment Lawyers are taking a look back and a look ahead at issues in labor and employment law. Join us for an informational webinar to review developments over the past year and discuss tips to keep your workplace practices current in the coming year.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm (CDT)
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

TOPICS

• Supreme Court developments, including the important decisions in Noel Canning and Hobby Lobby
• The EEOC’s new challenges to release agreements and steps you should take to ensure enforceability
• What Illinois and New Jersey employers need to know about new laws limiting questions about an applicant’s criminal record
• Developments under the Americans with Disabilities Act, including working at a home as a reasonable accommodation
• New guidance on how far employers need to go in accommodating religious beliefs and practices
• The Supreme Court and IRS weigh in on taxability of severance payments and health insurance reimbursements
• What to expect from the DOL’s fresh look at overtime requirements
• Continued rollout of the Affordable Care Act in the coming year
• Key changes to requirements for federal contractors

And more…

CLE Credit Available | This program has been submitted to the HR Certification Institute for review.

QUESTIONS

Contact Annie Darmofal at 312.476.7626 or adarmofal@lplegal.com

Special Open Enrollment Period Under Federal Health Care Marketplace for COBRA

LPLeave a comment

insuranceA year ago, the Department of Labor (DOL) released model general notice and model election notice forms for providing COBRA notices to employees in anticipation of the availability of alternative individual health insurance coverage becoming available beginning January 1, 2014 through the new health insurance exchanges or marketplaces created under the 2010 health reform law.  But the interplay between electing COBRA coverage or coverage under the new marketplaces is complicated, and confusion has resulted among those eligible for COBRA coverage.

So, on May 2, 2014, the Department Of Health & Human Services announced a special open enrollment period of May 2, 2014 through July 1, 2014, under the federal marketplace allowing an individual currently on COBRA to voluntarily end COBRA coverage and get coverage through the federal Marketplace, if otherwise eligible for the federal marketplace coverage.  State marketplaces are encouraged, but not required, to also offer a special enrollment period.

At the same time, the DOL issued proposed regulations removing older model notices from appendices to the COBRA regulations and providing that the approved notices and future changes to the notices will be posted on the DOL website.  This will allow faster updating of the notices when needed because amendment of the regulations themselves will not be required.  The most recent model notices on the DOL website are here:  model general notice and model election notice.

The EEOC Strikes Again

LPLeave a comment

lawsuit-letterIn a suit filed in February, the Chicago District Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) argued that the separation and release agreements used by CVS Pharmacy were “overly broad, misleading, and unenforceable.” Specifically, the EEOC argued that provisions in CVS’ agreements infringed on employees’ rights to file discrimination charges and participate in EEOC investigations. See our February 2014 post, EEOC Files Suit Over Separation Agreement Language for more details on that case.

Now, a different district office of the EEOC has filed a similar suit against another employer. The Phoenix District Office sued CollegeAmerica Denver on April 30, 2014 alleging that CollegeAmerica violated federal age discrimination laws by including various provisions in its form separation and release agreements impeding employee rights. The EEOC objects to CollegeAmerica’s broad release language, provisions limiting an employee’s ability to assist others with claims, and provisions requiring the employee to represent that he or she has not filed administrative claims or lawsuits.

Separation and release agreement language clearly is a “hot button” issue for the EEOC. Employers should review their form release agreements to ensure that they specifically permit an employee to file charges and participate in investigations by governmental authorities and do not place other impermissible limits on employee rights.

EEOC Files Suit Alleging Attendance Policy Failed to Accommodate Disabled Employees

LPLeave a comment

sealOn Friday, the EEOC filed suit against AutoZone, alleging that the car repair company violated the Americans With Disabilities Act by applying its attendance policy in a way that failed to accommodate certain disability-related absences.  This is the EEOC’s fourth disability discrimination case against AutoZone in the last 5 years.

Under AutoZone’s policy, employees received points for absences, with 12 points resulting in termination.  According to the EEOC, the policy did not make any allowances for disability-related absences (such as early departures by a diabetic employee who had insulin reactions), which the EEOC has alleged constituted a failure to accommodate.

Employers often — wrongly — assume that the fact that an employee doesn’t qualify for (or has exhausted) FMLA leave means that he can be terminated for his absences.  However, if the reason for the absence relates to the employee’s medical condition, it’s critical that the absence be considered under an ADA reasonable accommodation analysis as well.

Do Employees Have a Right to Use Company Email to Organize?

LPLeave a comment

Otypingn Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board re-opened the question of whether workers have a right to use their employers’ communications systems (including email) for union organizing and other protected activities.

In 2007, the NLRB handed down its decision in Register-Guard, holding that employees don’t have the right to use employer email systems for non-business purposes (such as union organizing).  Since then, many employers have implemented policies requiring that email only be used for business purposes.

The question arose again in 2013 when Purple Communications was accused of committing an unfair labor practice for prohibiting the use of company equipment for non-business purposes. The Administrative Law Judge relied on Register-Guard and dismissed the charge; however, both the NLRB’s General Counsel and the Communications Workers of America filed exceptions, encouraging the NLRB to overrule Register-Guard and find that employees who use email for business purposes have the right to use it for union or organizing activity. In response, the NLRB has invited the public to weigh in (by way of amicus briefs) on whether the Board should overrule Register-Guard .

Employer groups will no doubt come out strongly in favor of upholding Register-Guard , but with the current composition of the NLRB, the employer-friendly holding of Register-Guard might be short-lived.