Under the ADA, employers must reasonably accommodate disabled employees so they can perform the essential functions of their jobs. However, after unsuccessfully trying several accommodations, it may become clear that none will actually allow the employee to perform the essential functions. That changes the ADA equation.

The Department of Labor has appealed a ruling by a federal judge in Texas that overturned the Biden administration’s rule that would have made some 4 million more white-collar workers eligible for overtime pay.

States are emerging as prime sources of new employment-related laws. Here is a sampling of new laws scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, or soon after.

Before Groff v. DeJoy, an employer only had to show that approving a request for a religious accommodation would have “more than a de minimis” impact on the employer. That made turning down requests easy. Not anymore.

We have an employee who quit, but then came back to work for us a few months later. Does the hours-worked requirement start with her rehire date or does it go back to their original start date?

It sounds Dickensian—some employees with disabilities working under so-called Section 14(c) certificates earn $1 or less an hour. The Department of Labor wants to end this practice. New proposed regulations would, if finalized, phase out these certificates, so employees with disabilities would need to be paid at least the minimum wage.

Think twice before banning remote work, using different return-to-work rules or requiring employees to compete for their own job.

This decision is a warning to employers: Handling whistleblower complaints improperly can have serious consequences.

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In the United States, almost everyone is employed on what’s known as an at-will basis. That means an employer can fire an employee at any time for almost any legal reason or even no reason at all. It also means employees are free to quit at any time for any reason.
Managers need to understand at-will employment, especially if they have the authority to hire and fire employees. They can inadvertently destroy at-will status by implying that there is some sort of employment contract that protects an employee from being terminated.