The Employer’s Wage and Hour Advisor

The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that an employee can establish a prima facie case of pregnancy discrimination if the employee can establish that she belongs to a protected class (i.e., is or was pregnant), she sought an accommodation, and the employer did not accommodate her but the employer accommodated others “similar in their ability or inability to work.”

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a new definition of “spouse” under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to cover employees seeking leave for a same-sex spouse. 

Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that time spent by employees in employer mandated security screenings is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

New reporting requirements for workplace injuries and a revamped industry classification system will take effect on January 1, 2015 pursuant to a new final rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Allowing an employee to work from home four to five days per week might not be a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) after all. On August 29, 2014, in a rare move, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated its earlier three-judge panel decision against Ford Motor Company.

On Tuesday, May 27, 2014, Michigan’s House and Senate reached a bipartisan agreement to raise the state’s minimum wage by 25 percent over the next four years, to $9.25 an hour by January 1, 2018.

Allowing an employee to work four to five days per week from home may be required as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Yesterday, President Obama directed the Secretary of Labor to draft new regulations that will require the payment of overtime wages to many white collar employees who presently do not receive overtime pay.

Employers should be vigilant, now more than ever, concerning the steps they take to ensure compliance with wage and hour laws.

In connection with statutory amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and new regulations issued by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, employers will be required to display an updated poster describing employees’ rights under the FMLA by March 8, 2013.