On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued Notice of Proposed Rulemaking announcing that it was proposing an administrative rule that would end the use of all noncompetition agreements in employment relationships outside the context of the sale of a business. The proposed rule, among other things, labels the following as unfair methods
Expanded Accommodations for Women with Need to Express Breast Milk at Work
Also included in the omnibus spending bill are expanded accommodations for women that need to express breast milk in the workplace. The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act or the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act expands the federal workplace protections for women with a need to express breast milk passed in 2010.
The Robots are Coming
Yesterday, I was on a flight for a business trip and was writing a post about a few Artificial Intelligence applications I’ve been playing around with. But before I could publish my post, I was reminded that you have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat Daniel Schwartz on a blog topic
The Speak Out Act: Eliminating Pre-Dispute Non-Disclosure And Non-Disparagement Agreements For Workplace Sexual Harassment And Assault Matters
President Biden recently signed the Speak Out Act, the latest in a set of bills focusing on workplace sexual harassment and sexual assault. According to the legislative findings of the Act, 81% of women and 43% of men have experienced some form of sexual harassment or sexual assault throughout their lifetime, one in three
DOL Increasing Focus on Staffing Agencies and Health Care Practices’ Misclassifying Workers as Independent Contractors
On November 16, 2022, the Department of Labor announced that it had recovered $1.2 million in back wages from four different home health care agencies on behalf of 599 home healthcare workers. One of the responsible employers, Guardian Angels Care Services, Inc., owed $160,477 in overtime back wages for misclassifying its employees as independent
Texas Employers Can Pay Employees in Bitcoin, But Why Should They? A Sequel
With the spectacular crash of the centralized cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the potential bankruptcy of a second high-profile cryptocurrency exchange called BlockFi, now is a good time to revisit whether an employer would want to pay or employees receives all or part of their wages in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency.
Let’s go back to
Fortune 50 Company Recommendations to Improve Anti-Harassment & Non-Discrimination Policies and Practices
Want to evaluate whether you need to improve your company’s sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies or get recommendations for potential improvements to those policies? A company can spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to engage a large law firm to study the company’s policies and make recommendations for improvement. Alternatively, a company
How to Know the Defense of your Racial Discrimination Claim is Failing? The Jury asks for a Calculator
In a recent case out of a federal court in Houston, a former African American sales representative for FedEx received a jury verdict in the amount of $366M. In that case, Jennifer Harris claimed that she opposed racial discrimination and that she was retaliated against and terminated for engaging in her protected activity. She brought
Avoid the Holiday Party Human Resources Hangover
Employers are booking venues and planning for the annual company holiday party. As these preparations are made, Human Resources should review these tips to reduce the likelihood of post-holiday party human resources hangovers.
Keeping Off Santa’s Naughty List Because of your Behavior at the Company Christmas Party
Employee Time Off to Vote on Election Day in Texas
There are important mid-term elections occurring in Texas on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early voting runs from October 24 though November 4, 2022. There are many statewide, state district and U.S. representative races to be decided in this election.
In Texas, employers are required provide employees with time off