Employment

Jen Rubin explains that while bullying in the work place isn’t illegal unless the bullying is related to a protected category, employers should consider instituting anti-bullying training as a best practice.

Jen Rubin discusses the different types of post-employment restrictions, including non-competition agreements and non-solicitation agreements, as well as the need for employers to carefully consider what they are trying to protect before drafting and enforcing these policies. 

Jen Rubin discusses the need for employers to comply with applicable state laws that govern how an individual is properly classified as an independent contractor and the associated penalties should an employer fail to do so.

Jen Rubin, a member in Mintz's Employment, Labor and Benefits practice, wrote about the need for a thoughtful and fair investigative process in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Earlier this year, we wrote about the sweeping legislative changes enacted by New York State and New York City aimed at preventing workplace sexual harassment in the wake of #MeToo.

Non-compete reform has come to Massachusetts, with wide-ranging legal and practical implications for any employers with workers in Massachusetts. Employers have just six weeks to consider and adopt a new approach to non-compete agreements for their workforces.

Employers in Massachusetts are watching closely as a non-compete bill was recently passed by the Legislature and is now on Governor Baker’s desk.

The Office of Labor Policy & Standards, the office responsible for enforcing NYC’s employment laws, recently released guidance on the new Temporary Schedule Change Law. The law, which took effect on July 18, 2018, was passed with little fanfare, but left employers asking many questions about how to effectively implement its requirements.

We want to dedicate our August Bubbler feature to our readers, who have helped Mintz’s blog achieve such an august reputation. This month’s namesake (Emperor Caesar Augustus) would have been proud to see all of the activity out of the Empire State recently.

California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law A.B. 2770, creating new protections for employers, witnesses, and complainants from defamation lawsuits related to making, assisting, or discussing good-faith sexual harassment claims and investigations.

Earlier this month, Governor Jerry Brown signed A.B. 2282 into law, clarifying several unanswered questions concerning California’s salary history ban.

In a series of blog posts going back to last August, we reported on certain amendments to the Massachusetts Employer Medical Assistance Contribution (EMAC) rules. As we previously explained, the EMAC contributions are required of employers with more than five employees in Massachusetts.

This is the first post in a blog series exploring the U.S. Department of Labor’s recently issued final regulation governing Association Health Plans (AHPs). While AHPs can be either fully-insured or self-funded, the final regulation provides rules that are generally more useful to the former than the latter.

Welcome to July! As we head deeper into the summer, the employment law world continues to heat up (and we’re not just talking about the record temperatures across the country!). We have rounded up the most recent developments impacting employers here.

On June 28, 2018, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed a law affecting all employers in the Commonwealth by creating a paid family and medical leave program funded by a state payroll tax, increasing the state minimum wage, and eliminating premium pay requirements for work performed on Sundays and certain holidays.

It's not unusual for a creditor of a debtor to cry foul that a non-debtor affiliate has substantial assets, but has not joined the bankruptcy.

In our sister blog, ADR: Advice from the Trenches, Don Davis explores back-to-back decisions by New York’s intermediate appellate court that applied very narrow state law principles permitting vacatur of an arbitration award on public policy grounds to vacate an arbitrator’s award that had reduced the employer-posed penalty of termination to a brief suspension.

“Ban the Box” laws prohibit or limit an employer’s ability to ask a job applicant about his or her criminal record. States, counties and cities have enacted this legislation to help applicants with criminal records combat additional barriers to securing employment. We’ve written about these laws as enacted in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., New York City, and California.

With the summer kicking off, it is a good opportunity for employers to review and refresh their employment practices to ensure compliance with developments on the federal, state and legal landscape.This Bubbler Post will review our earlier guidance and (hopefully!) prompt you to review your employment practices:

On May 15, 2018, Governor Hogan signed into law the “Disclosing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Act of 2018” (the “Act”). The Act will go into effect on October 1, 2018, and contains two new obligations with which Maryland employers will need to comply.