Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Bosses Beware: Safety Comes First in the Face of Extreme Weather
Employers, safety first for your employees in extreme weather circumstances. The tragic stories that we all saw in the path of destruction left by recent hurricanes is a good reminder that no community is safe from the damages of climate change and extreme weather. Out of many tragic stories, one that received a great deal […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Court Strikes Down Nationwide FTC Final Rule Banning Nearly All Non-Competes
Employers across the U.S. can breathe a sigh of relief. A federal court in Dallas, Texas stopped the Federal Trade Commission’s Final Rule banning almost all non-competition agreements. The case is Ryan LLC v. Chamber of the United States of America et al. (N.D. Tex., Case No. 3:24-cv-00986-E; Documents 211 [opinion] and 212 [final judgment]). […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Split Decisions on Motions to Block FTC Final Rule on Non-Competes
Split Decisions on Federal Trade Commission Final Rule on Non-Competition Clauses in Employment Agreements Employers anxiously awaiting a final decision on challenges to the Federal Trade Commission’s Final Rule banning nearly all non-competition clauses in employment agreements will have to continue to wait. One court refused to block the challenge. Another court preliminarily agreed with […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Update on Federal Trade Commission’s Ban of Almost All Non-Competition Agreements
Update on FTC’s ban of almost all employer non-competition agreements September 4, 2024, is the effective date of the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Final Rule banning nearly all non-competition agreements. The litigation filed to stop the rule is percolating through the courts. This blog post will provide a brief update on the litigation and recommendations […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
FTC Voted to Ban Almost All Non-Competition Agreements
Federal Trade Commission bans most non-compete agreements in employment contracts On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission approved a Final Rule that bans almost any agreement that restricts where a worker may work after he or she leaves his or her current employer. Such an agreement is a non-competition agreement. The Final Rule is […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
FTC to Vote on Whether to Ban Non-Compete Agreements
Federal Trade Commission will vote on banning non-compete agreements On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission will hold a special Open Commission Meeting to vote on whether to issue a proposed final rule preventing most employers from enforcing non-compete agreements. On January 19, 2023, the FTC published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Attorney Pamela M. Ploor Provides Labor & Employment Law Updates
Attorney Pam Ploor presents and authors recent updates to labor & employment law in Wisconsin Attorney Pamela Ploor authored “Artificial Intelligence in Municipal Employment” for the March 2024 edition of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities magazine, The Municipality. The article addresses government guidance, risks, and recommendations for the use of AI tools in municipal employment, […]
Filed Under: Business Law Employment & Labor Law Environment and Land Use Law
Keeping Construction Workers Safe in the Face of Climate Change and Extreme Heat
It’s May 1st, which means it’s the beginning of construction safety week. It’s also the day those of us living in Wisconsin can begin to believe we won’t see snow again for at least a few months. And while we’re all looking forward to warmer days ahead, we also have to prepare for days that […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Employment & Labor Law Litigation
U.S. Supreme Court Holds Employment Protection Reaches Sexual Orientation and Transgender Status
Title VII is the portion of the federal Civil Rights Act that prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It was first adopted by Congress in 1964. Last week, in a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted Title VII to prohibit discrimination on the basis of […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
DOL Issues Regulations Implementing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
On April 1, 2020, the US Department of Labor issued regulations implementing the paid sick leave (PSL) and expanded FMLA (EFMLA) leave portions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). A full description of all of the provisions of the regulations is beyond the scope of this blog, but some of the key highlights […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Employment Law Update: Families First Coronavirus Response Act
On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) into law. This economic stimulus plan is designed to address the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Americans and contains two provisions that will impact employers with 1 – 500 employees effective April 2, 2020. Specifically, the FFCRA mandates emergency paid […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Court Must Adjudicate the Merits before Transferring Properties to Trust Over Owner’s Objection
In City of Milwaukee v. Choudry, 2018AP1693 (Dec. 27, 2019), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed a circuit court order transferring the defendant’s properties into a trust. The appellate court held that, because the trial court never made a final judgment on the merits of the case, it lacked authority to impose a remedy. Starting in […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Are You Ready? Reminder: New White-Collar Exemption Rule is Effective January 1, 2020.
Under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) “white collar” exemption, employees are exempt and not entitled to overtime if: (1) a “duties” test establishing that the employees are executive, administrative or professional employees as defined by federal rules is met; (2) employees are paid on a salary or fee basis; and (3) employees are […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Employment & Labor Law
Use It Or Lose It: SCOTUS Ruling Means Employer Defense To Discrimination Claims Can Be Waived
On June 3, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that failure of an employee to file a discrimination claim with the EEOC prior to bringing a discrimination lawsuit does not deprive a court of jurisdiction over the suit. That means that an employer can waive the defense to a discrimination claim based on failure […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Under Wisconsin Law, Commute Time is Non-Compensable Even if Using Employer’s Vehicle
The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently decided that Wisconsin law does not require employers to pay employees for the time spent driving company vehicles between their homes and job sites. Kieninger v. Crown Equipment Corp. Federal law has a similar rule, but it is subject to more limitations than the Wisconsin rule. Under federal law, employees are […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
DOL Proposes Regular Rate of Pay Regulations
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay non-exempt employees overtime pay at 1½ times their “regular rate of pay” for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. In calculating the regular rate of pay, employers must count all “remuneration for employment,” unless expressly excluded by the FSLA or DOL’s regulations implementing […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Supreme Court to Decide if Prohibition on Sex Discrimination covers Sexual Orientation/Identity
The U.S. Supreme Court has announced that it will hear three cases addressing whether discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgendered status constitutes discrimination “because of sex” and therefore prohibited under Title VII. The Court agreed to hear two of the cases together to resolve a split in the U.S. Circuit Courts as […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Employers Must Now File EEO-1 Component 2 Data By September 30, 2019
A district court has ordered that employers covered by EEO-1 reporting requirements must submit 2018 wage and hour data for their workforces by September 30, 2019. The EEOC has also determined that 2017 wage and hour data must also be reported by September 30, 2019. Employers will submit these reports as “Component 2” of the […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Employers Beware: Governor to Focus on Rooting Out Misclassification of Independent Contractors
Figuring out whether you can lawfully classify a worker as an independent contractor can be complicated. There are different standards for different laws. In Wisconsin, worker’s compensation and unemployment compensation laws each have their own definition of “independent contractor.” There is yet a different test for the purposes of wage and hour laws. Employers may […]
Filed Under: Employment & Labor Law
Under Federal FMLA, Employers Cannot Allow Employees to Exhaust Other Paid Leave
The National Labor Relations Act protects employees—even those in non-union workplaces—engaged in protected concerted activity for the purposes of mutual aid and protection. But what does “concerted” activity mean? A recent National Labor Relations Board decision, Alstate Maintenance, 367 NLRB No. 68, helps define the contours of the term. In Alstate, the employer provided skycap services at an airport. […]
