The 21st Century is in full swing.  Yet, we still don’t quite know what it means to be a 21C workplace.  We are told Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) will displace tasks performed by many (including lawyers) after we train the machines to perform our tasks.

However, a recent #Wall Street Journal article reminds us that the art of a handshake, eye contact, the ability to sense when a customer has had a bad day, remain business-essential skills which at this point are uniquely human.  And, apparently, increasingly must be taught.  Literally.  Continue Reading 21C Workplace Success Begins with a Handshake (and Eye Contact)!

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has a reputation as an employee-friendly forum.  Yet that Court recently rendered a decision that employers should applaud.  In Carlson v. Charter Communications, LLC, the Ninth Circuit refused to revive a former employee’s lawsuit against his employer in which he alleged that he was wrongfully terminated due to his legal use of medical marijuana.  Interestingly, the panel of the Court that issued the decision consisted of two judges appointed by Presidents Clinton and Obama and one judge appointed by President George W. Bush.  The case involved a Montana statute known as the Montana Marijuana Act, which allows patients with state-issued medical marijuana program cards to have a certain amount of marijuana in their possession. Continue Reading Employers Tread Carefully!  The Interplay between Federal and State Laws Regarding Medical Marijuana Usage

Allegations of sexual harassment perpetrated by top officials are not new, nor are lawsuits or threats of lawsuits based on those allegations.  Wise companies take such matters seriously and, if they conclude that the allegations have merit, take action not just to resolve the matter with the complaining party but to root out the problem so it does not reoccur.  Fire the offender, change the culture and move forward. Continue Reading Boards of Directors in the Bullseye: #MeToo and the Fiduciary Duty

As a management-side labor and employment firm, we frequently find ourselves on the other side of unions.  Unions are never shy to point out what they view as unfair, or poor terms and conditions of employment, even if their position is not objectively reasonable.  So what happens when the unions themselves are accused of treating their own employees poorly? Continue Reading Unions, Proponents of Worker’s Rights? Guess Again

Any HR professional who has dealt with the Family and Medical Leave Act knows that determining when and how the statute applies can be very tricky.  One thing that is clear, however, is that employees who have worked for less than one year and have not worked a total of 1250 hours are not eligible for FMLA leave and thus are not protected by the statute.  Or so we thought!  A case from last week, Reif v. Assisted Living by Hillcrest, LLC, dispels the notion that employees who have worked for less than a year are never subject to the protections of the FMLA. Continue Reading Employers Beware: What You Say Can and Will Be Used Against You!

Here’s another in my sometimes series of crazy things that employees (and, in this case, the National Labor Relations Board) do. Although the Board initially thought that employees playing driving games at highway speeds was protected activity (?!!), it has (fortunately for the rest of us drivers) rethought that position after being slapped down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Continue Reading Extraordinary Employee Misconduct: High-Speed Highway Harassment

The General Counsel (GC) of the National Labor Relations Board issued a memo on October 24, 2018 that focused on the unions’ duty of fair representation to their bargaining unit members. Numerous commentators, including management-side attorneys (as I am), trumpeted the fact that the Board is holding unions accountable. There seemed to be a feeling that, after years of employers being attacked by a left-leaning Board, the playing field is being re-leveled. But, as my partner Mike McGuire pointed out, is this really good for employers? Continue Reading Does Holding Unions Accountable Help Employers?

On May 2, 2018, the New Jersey Paid Sick Leave Act was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy.  That Act, which requires all employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees (with some exceptions), is scheduled to go into effect on October 29, 2018.  A summary of the Act’s requirements and obligations is provided below: Continue Reading New Jersey Paid Sick Leave Takes Effect October 29, 2018

A recent case highlighted a important point under the Americans with Disabilities Act that is often overlooked – reasonable accommodations are not limited only to enabling employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their jobs! They must also be provided to allow those employees to enjoy privileges and benefits of employment equal to non-disabled employees! Continue Reading Reasonable Accommodations – Not Just for Essential Functions!

We’ve talked about this before.  There is an ongoing tension between state laws decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes and federal law, under which marijuana is still classified as an illegal Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance.  Back in July, we wrote in our blog that the FDA had recently approved Epidiolex (cannabidiol), which contains a marijuana-derived drug substance, for the treatment of two rare forms of epilepsy.  As we stated in that blog post, this approval by the FDA did not necessarily signify that the federal government would soon reclassify marijuana, removing it from the list of Schedule 1 drugs because it has a medical purpose. Continue Reading Upon Further Review:  The DEA Legalizes a Marijuana-Derived Drug