Expert Analysis

• Handbook Hot Topics: Attendance Policies

  

  Employee attendance problems are among the most common reasons for disciplinary action and discharge, which is why a clear policy neatly laid out in an employee handbook is necessary to articulate expectations for workers and support an employer's position should any attendance-related disputes arise, says Kara Shea at Butler Snow.

• Religious Institution Unionization Risks Post-NLRB Decision

  

  A recent National Labor Relations Board decision granted Saint Leo University religious exemption from the National Labor Relations Act, potentially setting a new standard for other religious educational institutions, which must identify unionization risks and create plans to address them, say Terry Potter and Quinn Stigers at Husch Blackwell.

• Prepare Now To Comply With NJ Temp Worker Law

  

  New Jersey temporary staffing firms and their clients must prepare now for the time-consuming compliance requirements created by the controversial new Temporary Laborers' Bill of Rights, or face steep penalties when the law's strict wage, benefit and record-keeping rules go live in May and August, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

• Protecting Workplace Privacy In The New Age Of Social Media

  

  The rise of platforms like TikTok and BeReal, that incentivize users to share workplace content, merits reminding employers that their social media policies should protect both company and employee private information, while accounting for enforceability issues, say Christina Wabiszewski and Kimberly Henrickson at Foley & Lardner.

• Water Cooler Talk: Quiet Quitting Insights From 'Seinfeld'

  

  Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Paradies Lagardere's Rebecca Silk about George Costanza's "quiet quitting" tendencies in "Seinfeld" and how such employees raise thorny productivity-monitoring issues for employers.

• Garmon Defense Finds New Relevance As NLRB Stays Active

  

  With a more muscular National Labor Relations Board at work, employers should recall that they have access to a powerful yet underutilized defense to state law employment and tort claims established under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, say Alex Meier and Cary Reid Burke at Seyfarth.

• Eye On Compliance: Cross-State Noncompete Agreements

  

  The Federal Trade Commission's recent proposal to limit the application of worker noncompete agreements is a timely reminder for prudent employers to reexamine their current policies and practices around such covenants — especially businesses with operational footprints spanning more than one state, says Jeremy Stephenson at Wilson Elser.

• Conducting Employee Investigations That Hold Up In Court

  

  A recent Maryland federal court decision, which held that Elite Protective Services failed to provide a worker under internal investigation with protections required by his collective bargaining agreement, highlights important steps employers should take to ensure the conclusions of internal reviews will withstand judicial scrutiny, say attorneys at Venable.

• Memo Shows NLRB Intends To Protect Race Talk At Work

  

  A newly released memo from the National Labor Relations Board advising that discussions of racism at work count as protected concerted activity should alert employers that worker retaliation claims may now face serious scrutiny not only from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but also the NLRB, says Mark Fijman at Phelps Dunbar.

• Cannabis Co. Considerations For Handling A Union Campaign

  

  As employees in Connecticut and across the country increasingly unionize, cannabis employers must understand the meaning of neutrality and the provisions of labor peace agreements to steer clear of possible unfair labor charges, say attorneys at Shipman & Goodwin.

• Handling Severance Pact Language After NLRB Decision

  

  Following the National Labor Relations Board’s recent ruling that severance agreements with broad confidentiality or nondisparagement provisions violate federal labor law, employers may want to consider whether such terms must be stripped from agreements altogether, or if there may be a middle-ground approach, says Daniel Pasternak at Squire Patton.

• Eye On Compliance: Service Animal Accommodations

  

  A Michigan federal court's recent ruling in Bennett v. Hurley Medical Center provides guidance on when employee service animals must be permitted in the workplace — a question otherwise lacking clarity under the Americans with Disabilities Act that has emerged as people return to the office post-pandemic, says Lauren Stadler at Wilson Elser.

• Joint Employment Mediation Sessions Are Worth The Work

  

  Despite the recent trend away from joint mediation in employment disputes, and the prevailing belief that putting both parties in the same room is only a recipe for lost ground, face-to-face sessions can be valuable tools for moving toward win-win resolutions when planned with certain considerations in mind, says Jonathan Andrews at Signature Resolution.