The COVID-19 pandemic is causing an ever-changing, difficult situation for many people. Employers are being forced to make difficult decisions affecting the lives of employees—people about whom they care deeply. As government officials attempt to respond to and mitigate the pandemic, many of you are having to dramatically cut or eliminate employee hours or even
Labor Law
Do you know who your employees are? The NLRB clarifies its joint-employer standard
You probably think that your employees are limited to the people listed on your payroll. But under the joint-employer standard, one business’s employees can be imputed as another business’s employees for the purpose of employment laws and regulations. Earlier this week, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) announced its final rule for determining joint-employer status…
Employment Law Implications of Coronavirus
Updated 3/16/2020
An employer’s response to the coronavirus pandemic can change from day-to-day, depending on guidance and recommendations issued by the CDC, state departments of health, OSHA and the World Health Organization.
The questions employers are asking are changing depending on the day, as are the answers!
Can employers question their employees about their recent
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Minneapolis Employers Beware – Supreme Court Upholds City’s $15 per Hour Minimum Wage
The Minnesota Supreme Court, the state’s highest court, decided to uphold the minimum wage ordinance which was enacted by the City of Minneapolis back in 2017 and which will eventually require Minneapolis employers to pay workers $15.00 per hour. Those Minneapolis-based employers which were holding out hope that the Minneapolis ordinance would ultimately not be…
Online Ad Targeting Presents Risks for Employers and Landlords Alike
Last fall ProPublica revealed that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has cited employers for discriminatory targeting of job ads on Facebook. The ads in question excluded women and older workers through use of the micro-targeting tools provided by Facebook’s advertising platform. Early in 2019, a similar practice came under fire by the Department of…
Wellness Fees, Service Charges, and Automatic Gratuities, Oh! My!
If you have eaten out recently, you may have seen an additional charge at the bottom of your bill that says something like “health care 3%” or “3.9% mandate compliance surcharge.” As restaurant and other service-industry employers face growing employee costs further eroding already razor-thin margins, many increasingly add extra charges to their bills to…
The NLRB Changes Its Mind
In December 2018, President Trump made his third appointment to the NLRB, giving the Republicans a majority on the five-person Board. 2019 has seen a number of Board decisions in which the Board reversed or narrowed its decisions made by a Board which was controlled by Democratic appointees.
Union Election Rules
In 2014, the NLRB…
It’s Complicated – Understanding the Impact of Non-Discretionary Bonuses on Overtime Pay
The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) defines certain employees as exempt and others as nonexempt. Nonexempt employees are generally entitled to receive overtime pay at a rate of at least one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay. Overtime is often easy to calculate on straight weekly earnings, but what happens when employees…
Tick Tock: A New Year’s Resolution for All Employers with Employees Who Work in Minneapolis
With the coming New Year, it is a perfect time for Minnesota employers to ensure that they are complying with the new laws and ordinances that affect employment in the state. This post is intended to highlight a few areas that deserve particular focus as 2019 comes to a close.
Minneapolis Wage Theft Prevention Ordinance
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Employers Be(a)ware!
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is leading the fight with 18 States’ Attorney Generals (AGs) to ask the federal government to ban employers from utilizing non-competition provisions with most employees. According to Ellison and the other AGs, such provisions constitute an “abusive practice,” especially with respect to “low wage” employees. In their opinion, such provisions…