A recent 11th Circuit decision highlights that offering reassignment instead of extending medical leave can be a reasonable accommodation under the ADA when the reassignment fits the employee’s restrictions and the circumstances. The court said the employer acted lawfully by offering another available position rather than more leave, which the employee declined.

States across the country are moving toward mandatory written violence prevention plans, regular risk assessments, employee training and anti-retaliation protections. Because the legal landscape is rapidly evolving, employers should review and update their workplace violence policies at least annually and confirm compliance with their state’s most current requirements.

Sometimes, the best thing to do when faced with a possible wrongful termination is rehire the employee. Doubling down and refusing to consider the fired employee for open positions she’s qualified to perform can add to the damages.

• Manage marijuana use. Effectively handle employee use at home, on the job and off-duty.
• Develop compliant policies. Create and enforce clear, legally sound marijuana policies.
• Navigate federal and state laws. Address conflicts between medical and recreational-use regulations.
• Accommodate medical marijuana. Consider accommodating medical use to prevent legal risks.
• Rethink drug testing. Evaluate testing practices to balance safety with retention and hiring needs.
• Address zero-tolerance policies. Weigh strict policies against evolving legal and workplace norms.
• Ensure compliance. Tackle challenges related to ADA, FMLA, OSHA, DOT and workers’ comp.
• Respond to impairment. Identify and manage suspected on-the-job impairment effectively.

Eventually, the federal government shutdown will end, but bringing federal agencies back online will take time. That means employers will have to exercise patience as they look for guidance. Here’s how the reopening is expected to roll out and what it means for employers.

Effective Oct. 30, USCIS is no longer granting automatic extensions. That means your employees can no longer legally work unless they submitted their renewal requests by Oct. 30.

• Understand “real world” FMLA scenarios. We’ll explain how to manage the common FMLA problems you face daily and how to avoid potential legal pitfalls associated with overlapping state and federal leave laws.
• Use compliance tools correctly. Learn how to use the tools of compliance to address unscheduled and intermittent leaves (certifications, call-in rules, attendance procedures and more), and how to account for intermittent leave by the hour. It’s not as simple as you think.
• Proper certifications. Know what to do—and what not to do—when FMLA call-offs exceed the intermittent-leave certification you have on file (there’s new legal guidance).
• When to say no. Employees can use intermittent leave every day to change their schedule permanently. Know if and how you can say no to such demands.
• Know how to track time off. The FMLA and the PWFA allow pregnant workers short bursts of unscheduled leave. Learn how to track both concurrently.
• Learn lessons from recent court rulings. They lay out a path for the best (and worst) steps to complying with intermittent-leave laws.
• Identify the key questions to ask. You should ask a certain set of questions each and every time an employee seeks leave.

At least three federal laws provide time off for employees during and following pregnancy—good news for new mothers, bad news for the confusion it causes employers. A recent case highlights how complicated it can become.

Our employee has an intermittent FMLA certification that says they may miss work four times per month, one day per episode. The employee has called out on FMLA for the last 18 weeks, except for one. Can we move the employee to another department, with the same hours and pay, where there are more employees to make it easier to cover the absences?

A woman who worked as an Amazon driver has sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She says the agency has stopped investigating disparate-impact cases and, therefore, abrogated its responsibility to investigate all discrimination complaints.