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Only days after California started selling recreational pot, which had been legalized under state law, CNN reported that Attorney General Jeff Sessions will announce that he is rescinding Obama-era guidance that had set forth a policy of federal non-interference with state legalization laws. This action further complicates an already confusing situation for employers struggling with how to navigate the battling federal and state laws on the workplace impact of marijuana use.
Continue Reading The Federal Government Is Challenging State Legalization of Marijuana – What Does This Mean for Employers?

As Maryland employers are likely aware, the General Assembly passed a paid sick leave bill (HB1) this past session, which was vetoed by Governor Hogan. The Governor has now introduced a new paid leave bill – the Paid Leave Compromise Act of 2018 – that will be filed as emergency legislation when the next legislative session opens on January 10, 2018. The General Assembly’s Democratic leaders have nonetheless stated that they still plan to override the veto, making HB1 the law.
Continue Reading Governor Hogan’s Paid Leave Compromise Bill – What Does It Really Do?

My clients are often frustrated by the anonymous (and, frankly, sometimes untruthful) postings on GlassDoor, which is a website where employers and employees can post information about their companies. Employees are emboldened by the anonymity to vent their feelings about their employer – and may even sometimes take advantage of it by making false or defamatory statements intended to put the employer in a bad light (even though they are not supposed to do so under GlassDoor’s Terms of Use – you know, that overwhelmingly long and technical document that no one ever reads). There’s usually not much that can be done, since the employees’ anonymity is generally understood to be virtually absolute, and it is difficult to get GlassDoor to remove an employee review. But those employees should beware, because that anonymity is not guaranteed, as demonstrated in a recent case.
Continue Reading Employee Warning – GlassDoor Posts May Not Always Be Anonymous

I was recently perusing the latest edition of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s federal sector Digest of Equal Employment Opportunity Law (because, yes, I am that much of an employment law nerd) and came across an interesting article, “Race Discrimination in the 21st Century Workplace,” by EEOC attorney Paula Rene Bruner. The article specifically “attempt[s] to highlight newer types of race discrimination that have emerged in the 21st century federal, public, and private employment sectors.”
Continue Reading EEOC Highlights New Types of Race Discrimination

Following my earlier post about “Take Your Dog to Work Day,” I recently heard about another event taking place on November 10, 2017 – “Bring In Your Parents Day.” My initial reaction was utter disbelief. Have we really come to the point where helicopter parents are officially invited to buzz the workplace? I’ve had a number of clients whose employees’ parents have tried to intervene in work issues on behalf of their offspring (typically of the millenial generation). Unless the employee’s health condition required that someone speak for them, I have advised my clients that they can (gently but firmly) insist that the employee’s parent not be involved in the employment relationship. (And, frankly, if the employee is not embarrassed by having their mommy call their boss, they should be!!!)
Continue Reading Bring In Your Parents Day?

Leaf raker, babysitter, waitress, retail salesperson, lawyer. I have had many jobs. Each has had value. Often, the pay and benefits did not match the value. When the value of the job exceeded the remuneration, I looked to find the next job.
Continue Reading The Value of Labor Goes Beyond Wages

The consensus amongst employers in the recent past has been that, because federal law categorizes marijuana as an illegal substance, employers could take adverse action against individuals who tested positive for marijuana (refusing to hire, disciplining or terminating). In that same vein, because marijuana was illegal under federal law, the thought was that an employer had no obligation to provide accommodations to workplace policies, such as drug testing policies, to individuals who tested positive because of medical marijuana use.  (Except in Nevada, because it is the only U.S. jurisdiction whose statute requires accommodations for medical marijuana users).  However, a recent case, Barbuto v. Advantage Sales & Mktg., LLC, has seemingly caused the traditional line of thinking to go up in smoke.
Continue Reading Do Employers Have to Provide Accommodations for Medical Marijuana Use?

Instead of covering the top sports headlines of the day, ESPN has once again made the headlines and found itself embroiled in controversy. This time, the network removed a broadcaster from the September 2 football game between the Virginia Cavaliers and William & Mary set to play in Charlottesville, Virginia. It did so because his name is Robert Lee. He is Asian American.
Continue Reading What’s in a Name? Ask Robert Lee

Departing employees do a lot of dumb things with email.  Sometimes they use an employer’s systems, which they know are regularly monitored, to ask their attorneys how to set up claims against their employers.  Sometimes, after they email a slew of confidential or trade secret information to themselves on their way out the door, they click delete on the sent messages only to leave all of the evidence in the “deleted” folder.  In today’s blog, we ask employers to leave it to departing employees to do dumb stuff with email.
Continue Reading Don’t Access My Emails And Tell Me It’s Legal

The issue of whether employees can be required to sign arbitration agreements that contain waivers of their right to file a class or collective action over employment-related disputes is one that has drawn much attention – and much conflict – in recent years. The Obama administration, it seemed, steadfastly opposed such waivers. Under the Trump administration, which (regardless of your politics) has had a slow and bumpy transition of federal agency leadership, the agencies do not appear to be operating from the same playbook – as evidenced by recent actions by the National Labor Relations Board, (NLRB), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB).
Continue Reading The Government Seems Confused About Class Action Waivers