Fiona W. Ong

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Over the years, I’ve mentioned my adorable dog many times in connection with blog posts on employment-related topics like pet bereavement leave, paw-ternity leave (i.e. pet parental leave), and Take Your Dog to Work Day. (And here he is, dressed up for Halloween – as sushi!) In addition, I’ve blogged several times about sick leave for service animals (here and here) – each time noting that there is nothing that requires employers to allow employees to take sick leave for pets. Until now?Continue Reading Sick Leave for Pets?

On October 18, 2024, the Maryland Department of Labor (MDOL) finally issued its proposed regulations to implement Maryland’s paid family and medical leave insurance (FAMLI) law. Applicable to all employers with Maryland employees and starting July 1, 2026, the FAMLI law will provide most employees in Maryland with 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, with the possibility of an additional 12 weeks of paid parental leave, as we have previously detailed in our E-lerts from April 12, 2023 and April 12, 2022. Continue Reading Maryland’s Proposed FAMLI Regulations Are Finally Here – What Do They Say?

As we await the proposed regulations to implement the forthcoming paid family and medical leave insurance (FAMLI) program in Maryland, the state Department of Labor previously issued resources for employers, including FAQs, to assist them in preparing for compliance, as we discussed in our May 2024 E-Update. And now the MDOL has updated and vastly expanded those FAQs to offer additional clarification.Continue Reading Maryland DOL Releases Updated FAQs on Paid Family and Medical Leave

As most employers with Maryland employees (hopefully) know, starting October 1, 2024, they are subject to new wage range posting and paystub notice obligations, as detailed in our April 10, 2024 E-lert on new Maryland employment laws. The Maryland Department of Labor promised to release guidance to help employers in complying with these new obligations, for which employers have been waiting with bated breath. And it is finally here! The MDOL has included this information, along with other information on existing wage laws, on a new Wage and Hour webpage.Continue Reading Maryland Department of Labor Issues Highly-Anticipated Guidance on New Wage Transparency and Paystub Notice Obligations

As an employment attorney, I am, of course, deeply interested in which personal characteristics are protected from discrimination under law, and it is fascinating to see which new characteristics are deemed to warrant such protections. In recent years, CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Acts have seen success in many states. This past year, Maryland and New Mexico added military status to their respective lists of protected characteristics. But a recent attempt to expand discrimination protections in Britain certainly caught my attention – fox hunters??!!Continue Reading No Discrimination Against… Fox Hunters?

Employers like predictability. And it would make sense that, for an employee who previously worked remotely, well, remote work should be a reasonable accommodation. But a recent case warns employers not to jump to that conclusion so quickly.Continue Reading Just Because It Worked Before Doesn’t Make It a Reasonable Accommodation Now…

So, in my first week of work at my current law firm, I discovered I was pregnant. Obviously, the timing wasn’t great. And frankly, I was terrified to tell my new bosses that, gosh, in about 8 months, I would need parental leave. (And by the way, the only other female attorney at that time was also pregnant, and due around the same time). But when I finally did, the partners (including the other pregnant attorney) were all incredibly supportive. Which is one of the reasons why, after many years, I’m still here. Continue Reading But The Applicant Didn’t Tell Me They Were Disabled…

As the federal court said, “This is a case about a dental appointment in Qatar, an international romance, national security, and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. It is also a case about Title VII.” (Really, I could not come up with a better lede myself). And so begins the latest entry in our sporadic series of extreme cases of bad workplace judgment.Continue Reading Extraordinary Workplace Misconduct: With this drill, I thee wed…?

The Olympics are coming! And there were two interesting Olympic-related articles in the New York Times yesterday involving star competitors who “withdrew” (voluntarily?) from their countries’ teams based on some bad behavior. One involved a gold-medal winning equestrienne who was filmed repeatedly whipping a horse, which she characterized as an “error in judgment.” (Um, hitting a horse 24 times in less than a minute – People Magazine had more of the salacious details – seems rather more than a simple error in judgment…). Her decision not to compete makes sense. The other involved the teenaged captain of the Japanese women’s gymnastics team who committed the unspeakable crime of … smoking a cigarette and drinking alcohol. Twice. I’ve gotta say, forcing her to withdraw from the Olympics over common teenaged conduct (even if it is illegal under Japanese law for those under age 20) seems excessively harsh (and undoubtedly devastating to a young woman who likely has spent her entire life training for this opportunity). And there’s a lesson there for employers about imposing discipline. Continue Reading Hey Employers – Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

On July 10, 2024, the Maryland Department of Labor’s (MDOL) issued a second version of “draft” regulations to implement Maryland’s paid family and medical leave insurance (FAMLI) law. Applicable to all employers with Maryland employees and starting July 1, 2026, the FAMLI law will provide most employees in Maryland with 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, with the possibility of an additional 12 weeks of paid parental leave, as we have previously detailed in our E-lerts from April 12, 2023 and April 12, 2022. The MDOL issued a first draft of the regulations earlier this year, and we discussed the items of interest or significance in a January 30, 2024 E-lert. Subsequently, amendments to the FAMLI law were made during the 2024 General Assembly session (which we covered in our April 10, 2024 E-lert). And now we highlight the more significant developments in the latest version of the draft regulations. For more, click here.Continue Reading Round Two of Maryland’s “Draft” FAMLI Regulations – What Do They Say?