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A tip for your trouble – new rules for employers on treatment of gratuities and service charges (UK)

Employers in the hospitality, leisure and service sectors should be aware that the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 has now completed the parliamentary process and will be coming into force at some point in 2024, most likely May.    This particular piece of legislation has been a long time coming – the suggestion was … Continue Reading

Psychosocial hazards and poor organisational justice – necessary protection or a step too far for employers? (Australia)

There is a growing emphasis on the need to properly manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace that may create a risk to workers’ health and safety. But recent changes to safety laws indicate that psychosocial hazards include the potentially subjective concept of “poor organisational justice”. Have things gone too far, or is “poor organisational justice” … Continue Reading

Dismissal without prejudice – fact or fiction? (UK)

It’s not generally too difficult to know when you’ve been dismissed.  Your P45 arrives, colleagues avoid eye contact and your entry pass stops working.  But sometimes it’s not so clear and where your statutory or contractual rights may hang upon it, you cannot afford not to be sure. In Meaker – v – Cyxtera Technology … Continue Reading

The gender pay gap and what Belgian employers need to do about it (now and in the future)

The statistics Some uplifting news last week from Statbel, the Belgian Agency for Statistics. In 2021, there was no longer a pay gap for young women in Belgium. But as their age goes up, so opens up the pay gap with male colleagues. On average across all ages, women in Belgium earned 5% less per … Continue Reading

Third Circuit OKs Deductions From FLSA Exempt Employee PTO Banks (US)

In a first of its kind opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (which hears appeals from the federal district courts in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) ruled that an employer does not violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when it deducts time from FLSA-exempt employees’ paid time off (PTO) banks … Continue Reading

US Supreme Court Clarifies Employers’ Overtime Wage Payment Duty (US)

On February 22, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision clarifying employers’ obligation to pay overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The decision, Helix Energy Solutions Grp., Inc. v. Hewitt, No. 21-984, — S.Ct. — (Feb. 22, 2023), affirmed the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ interpretation of the FLSA’s overtime pay … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Latest California Law Against Employee Arbitration Agreements (US)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down the California Legislature’s latest attempt in a prolonged effort to limit employers’ ability to make arbitration of all disputes a condition of employment. In an opinion issued on February 15, 2023, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the law, Assembly Bill 51, is preempted by … Continue Reading

Did you hear? The EEOC issues new guidance on auditory disabilities in the workplace. (US)

Hearing impairment probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think about workplace discrimination. In fact, it’s probably not even in the top ten. With hearing impairment affecting about 15% of adults, however, this is a topic that has recently moved its way up the EEOC’s priority list.… Continue Reading

For the sake of argument  – EAT reviews without prejudice rules (UK)

Christmas being a season of peace on Earth and goodwill to all men, so they say despite all the evidence, here is a quick festive look at just how confrontational things have to become in order to constitute a dispute at law. The question is a surprisingly important one, since on the existence of a … Continue Reading

NLRB Issues Flurry of Blockbuster End-of-Year Decisions (With More to Come?) (US)

Over the course of one week in mid-December, the Democrat-appointed majority members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) significantly altered the labor law landscape for employers by issuing a flurry of high visibility, much anticipated decisions. Among other things, these decisions will make it easier for unions to organize employees and … Continue Reading

California Wage and Hour Issues for Employers to Watch in 2023: Is My Time-Rounding System Still Compliant? (US)

Virtually every employer in California has repeated the mantra of “no off-the-clock work” to its employees. But what about those minutes that are “on-the-clock” but remain unpaid because of rounding practices? Since 2012, when the California appellate court decided See’s Candy Shops, Inc. v. Superior Court, 210 Cal. App. 4th 889 (2012), employers have presumed … Continue Reading

New redundancy criteria decision not all that it seems (UK)

So, quick, answer me this – when making redundancies outside the collective consultation rules, do you need to consult with the affected employees about the selection criteria relied upon or only as to the proposed impact of those criteria on that person? Traditional wisdom would point to the latter. The selection criteria are a matter … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Holds Time Spent Logging On and Off Computers May Be Compensable Under FLSA (US)

Employers who have employees log onto computers before clocking into a time-keeping system and who have them clock out before shutting the computer down may be violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) according to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cadena v. Customer Connexx LLC. According to the facts in Cadena, employees had … Continue Reading

A step into the unknown – waiving future claims by settlement agreements (UK)

You would think that in the twenty-plus years since they were first introduced as an alternative to the Acas COT3, all that could be said about the law relating to settlement agreements would have been said.  However, along now comes the Scottish Employment Appeal Tribunal in Bathgate –v- Technip UK Limited and Others with a … Continue Reading

Priority visa services resume after 5 month suspension (UK)

In March this year, we wrote about the abrupt suspension of UKVI priority services for new applications made from outside the UK here. Today, after a full 5 months, UKVI has reinstated “priority services” for new work visa applications. The suspension was UKVI’s response to the large influx of applications under the Ukraine Family Scheme. … Continue Reading

Keeping it real – the quest for reason in whistleblowing cases (UK)

In earlier posts on this blog you will find a handful of cases which consider the distinction between the fact of a protected whistle-blowing disclosure and the manner of it.  Accepted wisdom, thanks in part to the unimprovable words of then Mr Justice Underhill in Martin -v-Devonshires Solicitors here is that an employer can in … Continue Reading

WEBINAR August 12: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: What Are the Complexities to Navigate for Your Organization and the Future of Abortion Protections in the US?

Register for this event The Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision reversing long-standing precedent protecting abortion rights has created complexities for employers and other organizations across the US. As we continue to watch the impact of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision unfold, please join our team of lawyers in a conversation highlighting where we are now … Continue Reading

MPs use Private Members’ Bills to advance government’s employment agenda (UK)    

Parliament’s Private Members’ Bills ballot gives backbench MPs the opportunity to propose new legislation or changes to existing laws on a topic of their choice. We wouldn’t normally report on Private Members’ Bills as very few of them ever become actual law and some are downright silly – if you can still find it, take … Continue Reading

Torres v. Texas Dept. of Public Safety: The Supreme Court Rules State Employers Are Not Immune from USERRA Lawsuits (US)

Squire Patton Boggs Summer Associate Clara Davis discusses the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision interpreting the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). On June 29, 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled that state sovereign immunity does not bar state employers from lawsuits under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”). … Continue Reading

EAT reinforces protection of employee beliefs in Biblical pronouns row (UK)

As a break from workplace investigations and before Covid’s threatened resurgence as an issue for employers, how about this new slice of “gay cake” case law around what should and should not happen when your religious beliefs clash with the requirements of your job? In Mackereth –v- DWP & Another this week, the claimant was … Continue Reading

Employers Can’t Escape WARN Act Liability Because of COVID-19 (US)

The word “unprecedented” has been applied often (and exhaustingly) throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but when it comes to the impact the pandemic had on the U.S. employment law landscape, the term fits. This was never truer than in the earliest days of the COVID-19 outbreak when companies, facing sudden and abrupt business closures, dramatically reduced … Continue Reading

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: What does this mean for employers? (US)

Today, in a 6-3 decision, the nation’s highest court reversed the long-standing, seminal pro-abortion case in Roe v. Wade. Justice Samuel Alito authored the majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, holding that, “[t]he Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion … Continue Reading

Seventh Circuit Reminds Employers Words and Actions Both Count in FMLA Cases (US)

Most employers know that under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employees who have worked at least one year (and at least 1,250 hours in that year) have the right to take leave for their own or a close family member’s serious health condition, among other reasons. And most employers that are subject to … Continue Reading
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