Information and guidance on every phase of employment
Q: I heard New York City is banning employers from doing pre-employment drug testing for marijuana. What do I need to know?
A: Effective May 10, 2020, New York City employers are prohibited from testing prospective employees for marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinols (the active ingredient in marijuana) as a condition of employment. The law applies to all prospective employees in New York City, regardless of whether the employer is located in New York City.
Q. Are students who work in connection with their studies considered to be “employees” and therefore able to unionize?
A. In a significant development for private colleges and universities, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that it intends to propose rules that would establish a “standard for determining whether…
Q. An employee has requested that he be allowed to bring his Labradoodle to work with him. Do we have to accommodate this request?
A. Pets are accompanying their masters everywhere these days. It is not unusual to see pets in public areas, including restaurants, and even on airplanes. Likewise, more employees are requesting to bring man’s best friend to work. Whether an employer has to accommodate such a request depends on whether the employee is qualified individual with a disability and the request for accommodation would enable the employee to perform the essential functions of his or her job. If the workplace is also a place of public accommodation, then the company also should be mindful of the rules under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) for “service animals.”
Q. As an employer located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, what do I need to know about accommodations for pregnant employees?
A. Pittsburgh’s City Council recently unanimously passed a new ordinance that expands protections for pregnant employees and their partners and imposes several new requirements on private employers, much like those under the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Americans with Disabilities Act. The local ordinance became effective on March 15, 2019.
Q. Can my employees pursue class actions via arbitration?
A. On April 24, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the latest in its line of recent decisions hostile to class action arbitration. In Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, the Court stated that merely showing ambiguity in an arbitration clause is…
Q: My company offers floating holidays to employees. Can we have a “use it or lose it” policy for unused floating holidays? Do they have to be paid out at termination? What about personal days?
A. Like many wage and hour questions, the treatment of floating holidays and personal days is governed by state law. As explained in more detail below, in most states, treatment of floating holidays and personal days is governed by the employer’s policy. However, in California, treatment is governed by state law.
Q. I heard that the United States Department of Labor is planning to raise the salary threshold for exempt status again. What is the new rule and when does my company have to comply?
A. On March 7, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its long-anticipated proposed rule that would…
Q: Is it lawful to require employees or applicants to style their hair in a certain manner?
A: As with most employment-related questions, the answer is it depends. While employers are generally allowed to adopt basic grooming policies, employers should seek to adopt policies that do not have a disparate impact on minorities and other persons protected by anti-discrimination laws.
Q. Our company has a policy providing for mandatory arbitration of employment claims. I heard recently that some companies are moving away from these types of policies. What are the pros and cons of requiring all employees to submit their employment claims to arbitration?
A. There are a number of issues to consider regarding whether a company should require its employees to submit all employment claims to arbitration. These types of policies have been in favor since the 2018 United States Supreme Court opinion in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, which endorsed mandatory arbitration agreements even where they resulted in employees waiving their rights to pursue claims in a class or collective action.
Q: How does the current National Labor Relations Board view employee handbook policies?
A: Under the Trump administration, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) has shifted in a more employer-friendly direction, including with respect to workplace policies. In a December 2017 decision, the NLRB reassessed the standard for evaluating when neutral workplace rules violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). In that decision, the Board defined three categories of employer handbook rules and policies: (1) rules that are generally lawful; (2) rules that warrant individualized scrutiny; and (3) rules that are plainly unlawful.
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