On February 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted three to two to issue the final rule it proposed over a year ago to ban non-competes for most workers in America. Furthermore, the regulations require that companies with active non-competes inform their workers that have them that they are void. 

Anyone having an affair or seeking one in the workplace?  Be careful about how much holiday conviviality you engage in.  Thanks to new laws passed this last year by Congress, it is more difficult for employers to keep such arrangements confidential. 

The Seventh Circuit just issued a decision clarifying and loosening the standard for an interference claim under the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).   In Ziccarelli v. Dart, the Court rejected the notion that in order to establish an interference claim under the FMLA, a plaintiff had to establish that there had been some denial of FMLA leave benefits.

The United States Supreme Court recently issued a decision making it easier for employees to bring Title VII claims directly in court without having to exhaust their charge filing obligations with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).   In Fort Bend County, Texas v. Davis, the employee filed an EEOC charge against her former employer, Fort Bend County.  Her charge alleged sexual harassment and retaliation for reporting the harassment.

As part of its work incentive program, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has authorized the use of Plans to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) by disabled or blind individuals who are Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries. A PASS enables these beneficiaries to set aside income and resources for an occupational pursuit without being penalized with a reduction in their benefits amount.

For the recovery of workers compensation benefits, many jurisdictions require proof of injury “by accident.” While some states define accidental injuries in their workers compensation statutes, others do not leaving the courts to sort out the meaning intended. Generally, “by accident” signifies that an identifiable, yet unexpected, event caused the injury.

When an employee is injured in the course of his employment, the natural and resulting consequences from such injury are compensable as also arising in the course of employment. The compensable consequences of the injury can encompass a negative progression or complication of the injury or a completely new injury resulting from the initial one.

In most jurisdictions, an injured employee must make a claim for workers compensation within a specified time. By imposing a time limitation on filing a claim, the states have attempted to protect employers from old or stale claims that would be difficult to adequately investigate and defend. An employee’s failure to file his claim promptly will result in the claim being denied, even if it is shown that the employer was not actually prejudiced by the delay.

Social security disability benefits are paid only so long as the individual remains disabled. The Social Security Administration (SSA) will cease paying benefits if the individual can engage in substantial gainful activity. The Social Security Disability Reform Act of 1984 established conditions for the cessation of disability benefits based on a lack of disability, which include:

Sometimes, a court may direct an employer to withhold a portion of an employee’s earnings and to pay the withheld amount to the court or a creditor. Sometimes a state or the federal government may direct an employer to withhold part of an employee’s wages must because the employee owes unpaid taxes. The legal process by which an employee’s wages are withheld is referred to as garnishment.

The most frequent reasons for protest are those involving a protest against the payment of unemployment benefits chargeable against the employer because the claimant either voluntarily quit his employment or he was discharged for misconduct connected with his work. In regard to these bases of protests, the employer is in a unique position to know the facts because the employer was involved in the circumstances surrounding the discharge at the time it occurred and also because the facts will have occurred prior to the separation from the employer’s employment of the claimant.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was passed in 1935 to promote the rights of workers and to encourage collective bargaining. The NLRA was amended in 1947 by the Taft-Hartley Act. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was created by Congress to enforce the NLRA. The NLRB may order violators of the NLRA to stop their illegal activities.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires most employers to pay most non-exempt workers a minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. It also requires these employers to pay workers time and one-half pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in any given week.

Churches are unique employers in that their employment of leaders, often referred to as clergy or ministers, is protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Courts have consistently held that any interference by the State into church decisions of whom to hire as a leader and whom to retain as a leader would burden the Free Exercise rights of the church.