Twitter is once again facing a major federal lawsuit for alleged employment law violations, this time for potentially violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The lawsuit alleges that Elon Musk, the company’s new CEO, violated the law by suddenly requiring all employees to commit to 80-hour work weeks or accept severance, demanding an unreasonable amount of work without any accommodations. The suit also alleges an additional ADA violation by ending Twitter’s work from home policy without adequate explanation or notice. Continue reading “Twitter Faces ADA Woes Due to Changes in Work Policy”
Category: On-the-Job Issues
On-the-Job Issues explained by New York Employment Lawyer Steven Mitchell Sack
Ninth Circuit Rules Pre-Shift Duties Covered by FLSA
In a recent decision issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, it was ruled that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires compensation for pre-shift duties, such as turning on a computer and logging into a system. This reverses a lower court decision that had ruled the opposite, exempting employers from compensating employees for this extra time. The result could be a substantial increase in the pay for certain wage-earners.
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What is a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in Employment Law?
Non-disclosure agreements, also known as NDAs, are a commonly seen tool in many aspects of business law, but one of the places they are most often seen is in employment contracts. There, they are used to protect the interests of employers, as well as their clients or customers, but can also be used to silence employees complaining about poor working conditions. But what exactly is an NDA, and how are they used in an employment context?
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Why Do Employers Like Mandatory Arbitration Agreements?
Mandatory arbitration agreements have become more common in the past few years, with some employers requiring them of every employee that works for them. These agreements, while poorly understood, can have a substantial impact on an employee’s ability to exercise their legal rights. But why do employers like mandatory arbitration agreements, and why do they put them into employment contracts? Continue reading “Why Do Employers Like Mandatory Arbitration Agreements?”
Why Might You Be Misclassified as an Independent Contractor?
According to the New York State Department of Labor, there have been more than 31,000 employee misclassification cases in the state since 2007. While this is sometimes the result of an honest mistake, some employers will intentionally misclassify their employees as independent contractors, resulting in serious legal and financial problems. But why might an employer intentionally misclassify someone as an independent contractor? Continue reading “Why Might You Be Misclassified as an Independent Contractor?”
How Do Employers Try to Stop Unions From Being Organized?
Suffice it to say that many employers are not fond of labor unions, and some businesses will go to extreme (and sometimes illegal) efforts to prevent a union from being organized among their employees. These tactics range from the surprisingly subtle to the absurdly overt. Here are some of the most common tactics employers use to try to keep employees from organizing unions:
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How Employers Can Use a Credit Check Against An Employee
Increasingly, employers have used credit checks to screen employees and make hiring and firing decisions. In fact, according to a 2018 HR.com report, as many as 16% of all employers in the United States conduct a credit check on all employees as part of the hiring process, and a third pull credit reports on at least some of their job candidates. But what is an employment credit check, and how can employers use them against their employees? Continue reading “How Employers Can Use a Credit Check Against An Employee”
What is At-Will Employment, and Why Does it Matter?
By far the most common type of employment in the United States is what is known as at-will employment. In fact, it is estimated that nearly three quarters of all employees in the U.S. are considered to be at-will employees. But what does it mean for someone to be employed at-will, and why might that matter for you?
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Five Potential Signs of Religious Discrimination
As Steven Sack says in his book, Fired!, “The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits religious discrimination and requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of employees and prospective employees.” However, religious discrimination is a surprisingly common phenomenon in workplaces across the country, although many people do not realize it. Here are five ways employers may discriminate against employees on religious grounds:
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OSHA Announces Heat Illness Prevention Program
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced a National Emphasis Program (NEP) to deal with the dangers of heat illness in employment settings. As Steven Sack notes in his book, Fired!, “The 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to provide a safe and healthful workplace,” and protecting employees from these sorts of hazards is part of their mandate. The program targets 70 high-risk sectors where employees frequently suffer the ill effects of exposure to high temperatures. It has also signaled that it will be moving forward with new rulemaking to help prevent heat illness, in order to better protect workers from injury and death.
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