Employment

The concepts of “hours of service” and “full time” loom large in the Affordable Care Act’s “employer shared responsibility” mandate (also known as the “employer mandate” or “pay or play mandate”). An employee who works 30 “hours of service” per week is considered to be “full time” under the mandate.

Recently, Allison Grande of Law360 reported on the warnings representatives from the FTC and EEOC provided to employers about using big data in the workplace at a panel hosted by the FTC. This post briefly explores those warnings.

My colleague Tyrone Thomas was quoted in a SHRM article entitled Confront Employees Who Perpetrate Domestic Violence in which he comments on ways employers can investigate an employee’s alleged off-duty, off-site domestic violence. The article focuses on employers’ courses of action when they suspect an employee is committing domestic violence.

A federal court has tossed the EEOC’s controversial lawsuit against CVS seeking to invalidate its severance agreements. While the EEOC still has a similar lawsuit pending against another company in Colorado, employers can brief a sigh of relief for the moment.

This summer’s FIFA World Cup was truly spectacular. I know this because I’ve been working in the same office building for years and not once has every one of the 10+ pubs located within a five-block radius been packed to the gills on a weekday afternoon for a sporting event.

Sadly, for this writer, Yankee legend Derek Jeter’s playing days have come to a close. This summer we were able to watch the Captain and five-time World Series Champion take the final swings of his illustrious career where he finished 6th on the all-time hits list – a remarkable accomplishment.

For purposes of complying with the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility rules (which are codified in Internal Revenue Code § 4980H), employers must identify their “full-time employees.”

Thirteen year-old pitching sensation Mo’ne Davis made headlines this summer as she became the first female to throw a shut-out in a Little League World Series game. She dominated batter after batter and looked mature beyond her years when she addressed the media.

It felt like we were in a dream. Or maybe San Diego. Day after day, 82 degrees and little humidity. In a word: pleasant. We know next summer probably won’t be the same, but we sure enjoyed this one.

McDonald’s, the fast food giant known for supersizing its orders, avoided conditional certification of an FLSA collective action this week based on the “very large” size of the putative class.

61 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Let me repeat: 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes. That’s an incredible 6.1 hotdogs per minute! But for competitive eating champion Joey Chestnut, it was just another day at the office.

My colleague Don Schroeder was quoted in Bloomberg BNA’s Daily Labor Report article entitled To Unions, McDonald’s Joint Employer Status No Slam Dunk, As Fast Food Push Intensifies in which he comments on the impact of social media in continued worker organizing efforts and McDonald’s new burden to prove the franchiser

With so much attention being paid to compliance with the Affordable Care Act’s Employer Shared Responsibility rules, it is sometimes easy to forget that these are not the only rules that govern the maintenance and operation of employer-sponsored group health plans. In the case of mid-year cafeteria plan elections, however, the Act and prior law do not mesh well.

The advent of a playoff system in Division I FBS college football is not the only new change in intercollegiate athletics. After the most active summer in the history of college sports, the following events will have a large effect on compliance going forward

“I told my wife I wouldn't drink tonight. Besides, I got a big day tomorrow. . . . Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper; maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.”

Following up on the piece I wrote with Jim Ninivaggi, “Whose LinkedIn Profile is it Anyway,” the information contained in an employee’s LinkedIn contacts were discussed in the context of trade secrets in a recent California Federal District Court case, Cellular Accessories for Less, Inc. v. Trinitas.

Recently I had a conversation with my father about his options for parental leave when I was born (1979). As a new father myself, I was curious what leave options were open to baby-boomer Dads. My father told me that it was fairly standard to take a day or two off after the birth of a child and to then return to the office, with cigars and tired eyes.

This summer, those (31?) of us who watched Chris Pratt steal scene after scene in Parks & Recreation saw him ripen into the star we always hoped he’d become. First he charmed audiences as the voice of Emmett in the Lego Movie (you know, the one that easily broke the record for most references that went over your kid’s head in a G-rated movie).

The District of Columbia is on the verge of joining the 13 other states (and numerous cities and counties throughout the country) that have enacted “Ban the Box” laws prohibiting or limiting an employer from asking job applicant’s about their criminal record.

While it seems like it happened forever ago, it was just back in July when LeBron James once again held this nation captive over where he would play basketball. Four years ago, he jumped ship to Miami to join forces with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, which led to two championships and four straight finals appearances.