Employee Benefits

Subscribe to Employee Benefits
New York City, NYC, USA

New York City made waves this month by imposing new requirements on independent contractor agreements and by passing a law that prohibits employers from asking about or considering an applicant’s prior salary. Although New York City is just the third jurisdiction to adopt a law prohibiting inquiries into an applicant’s salary history (Massachusetts and Philadelphia have already passed similar measures), employers everywhere should take note as it is widely anticipated that other local and state governments will follow suit. Continue Reading Big Changes in the Big Apple: NYC Bans Salary History Questions and Imposes New Requirements for Independent Contractors

Online Media Concept. Blue Podcast Button with Microphone. 3d Re

In this 20-minute podcast, Hank Sledz and Lauren Novak discuss Congress’ push to allow private companies to offer comp time in lieu of paying time-and-a-half for overtime under the Working Families Flexibility Act, how employer-friendly the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Department of Labor will be under new leadership, and other important changes during the Trump Administration’s first 100 days that could hurt or help employers.

(Also, tune in to find out if Hank and Lauren’s labor and employment predictions about the new administration from last December were right.)

You can listen to the podcast here.

Discrimination and Law

In a landmark decision reflecting a potential turning of the tide for the LGBT community, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has become the first federal appeals court in the nation to hold that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII. Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, No. 3:14-cv-1791 (7th Cir. April 4, 2017). Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Breaks New Ground: Sexual Orientation Discrimination Prohibited by Title VII

GettyImages-176810772

Joining nearly all other federal circuit courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has held that Title VII does not cover discrimination based on sexual orientation. Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, 2017 WL 943925 (11th Cir. March 10, 2017). While closing the door on Title VII sexual orientation discrimination claims, the court re-affirmed that other theories of sex discrimination, such as gender non-conformity and same-sex discrimination, remain actionable. Continue Reading 11th Circuit Joins Others in Holding Sexual Orientation Discrimination Not Covered by Title VII

Nurse helps pregnant woman with medication at home

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) this week issued a publication addressing the rights of employees and applicants with mental health conditions under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The publication, entitled “Depression, PTSD, & Other Mental Health Conditions in the Workplace: Your Legal Rights,” can be found here. Continue Reading EEOC Giving More Thought to Mental Health Conditions

Sick Leave

Following in the footsteps of the City of Chicago, Cook County, Ill. has now adopted two new ordinances providing for paid sick leave for all employees and an increase to the minimum wage for low income workers. With both ordinances effective July 1, 2017, employers will need to budget accordingly to minimize the financial impact these two new laws may have. Continue Reading Cook County Adopts Paid Sick Leave Ordinance and Minimum Wage Increase

iStock_000003757630_1320px

Last week, the EEOC issued its final rule regarding pay data to be collected with the annual EEO-1 reports. Covered employers will now need to submit pay data sorted by job group and demographic data in their annual EEO-1 reports. The final rule was implemented with no material changes from the proposed rule first issued earlier this year, despite significant response and feedback from industry and employer groups citing concerns. For more information on the rule, see You Pay Your Employees What??? Employers Might Have to Share Hours and Pay Data in Proposed EEO-1 Form. The new EEO-1 form can be found here. Continue Reading EEOC and DOL Active Last Week: EEO-1 Pay Data Rule and Federal Contractor Paid Sick Leave Rule to Take Effect

iStock_69220055_LARGE

Two recent laws in Illinois and Chicago provide employees with unpaid leave for the death of a child or paid leave for an illness. On June 22, 2016, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance (“Sick Leave Ordinance”) guaranteeing paid sick leave to private sector and City of Chicago employees. On July 29, Governor Bruce Rauner signed the Child Bereavement Leave Act (“CBLA”) into law, which provides unpaid leave to employees who lose a child. The CBLA became effective at the time of its signing, and the Sick Leave Ordinance becomes effective on July 1, 2017. Continue Reading Don’t Leave This For Later: Advice For Employers On New Bereavement And Sick Time Laws