News

Employees who think they’re about to be disciplined or fired often look for ways to delay or prevent the inevitable. A favorite tactic: invoking the job protections built into the FMLA and ADA. However, there’s a foolproof way to protect against these frivolous charges.

A federal judge in Maryland has temporarily blocked portions of two White House executive orders aimed at abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in private-sector organizations, including federal contractors.

Since taking office, President Trump has aggressively issued orders seeking to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from the federal government—and now from the private sector, too. To avoid potential federal scrutiny, you may want to consider revising your DEI programs and how they are described in your handbook.

The EEOC has asked federal courts to drop lawsuits it previously filed alleging that employees experienced workplace discrimination and harassment because they are transgender. It’s a significant reversal for the EEOC in the early days of the Trump administration.

Be careful about ordering disabled employees to return to the office. The EEOC just sued an employer that insisted on requiring everyone to come back to the office, despite some having disabilities.

The first weeks of the Trump administration have been marked by dramatic policy reversals across dozens of Cabinet-level agencies. Expect more incremental change at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Two upcoming religious holidays make it an opportune time for employers to review the laws regarding religious accommodations.

An employee has recently provided two weeks’ notice of his intent to resign. Can I tell the worker that he is not needed for the two weeks and avoid paying him for that time?

Under the ADA, employers don’t have to go along with an accommodation that is unreasonable—one that, in the terminology of the ADA, “causes an undue hardship.” If you reject what you consider an unreasonable accommodation, be ready to explain why.

The letter acknowledges that under the FMLA, employees can elect to use accrued vacation, sick and workers’ comp leave for unpaid FMLA leave, and employers can require it. This substitution runs concurrent with FMLA leave until the entitlement is used up.