Author: foulstonsiefkin

In a unanimous decision, Groff v. Dejoy, the U.S. Supreme Court revived a former U.S. Postal Service mail carrier’s religious bias suit. In the process, the Court upended decades of lower court precedent regarding the proper analysis for determining whether a religious accommodation presents an undue hardship and must be provided under Title VII. Previously,… Continue reading Supreme Court Raises Standard for Denying Religious Accommodation

The saying goes, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Nobody knows that better than HR professionals, where “being kind” to employees, such as by making an exception to a company policy, often leads to problems down the road. While experienced professionals often see these types of problems coming from a mile away, many are unaware of… Continue reading Discretionary PTO Cashout Policies Create Hidden Tax Risk to Employers

Foulston will host HR Training webinars for HR professionals, managers, and business owners in all industries across the region. Each session will address HR issues that are important and relevant to employers. HRCI, SHRM, and CLE credit will be requested for live webinar participants. Session Topics: FMLA Basics | September 28, 2023 Labor Law and… Continue reading Foulston Presents: HR Training Series Webinars

OFCCP has been active recently, making two notable changes that will impact federal government contractors. Modified Scheduling Letter & Itemized Listing First, OFCCP announced that it modified its existing Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing effective August 24, 2023. These are the documents OFCCP uses to notify a contractor it has been selected for audit and… Continue reading Federal Government Contractor Update

Fourteen members of Foulston’s employment and labor law practice group have been selected for inclusion in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Best Lawyers® honors attorneys whose peers recognize their reputation and professional experience. These Foulston attorneys were awarded this year in employment law-related areas: James Armstrong Donald Berner Vaughn Burkholder Boyd Byers… Continue reading Foulston Employment Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers®

What do human resources management and poker have in common? Not much. After the cards are fairly dealt in poker, bluffing, deception, and lying are a part of the game. Not so in HR, where honesty is always the best policy. But there is one lesson HR pros can learn from poker pros: recognize and… Continue reading From the Poker Table to the Boardroom Table — Avoid Tilt to Make Good Decisions

The Pregnant Worker’s Fairness Act (“PWFA”) goes into effect today, June 27, 2023. The PWFA was added to the spending bill and enacted at the end of 2022 without much fanfare. But don’t be fooled by its quiet passage — the PWFA contains important protections for pregnant workers. Employers are already familiar with the Pregnancy… Continue reading Pregnant Worker’s Fairness Act Effective Today

You’ve probably heard the old proverb about being “penny wise and pound foolish.” But here’s a case about an employer who was “penny foolish.” The story, as alleged in a Department of Labor (“DOL”) Complaint, begins with an employee who did not receive his final paycheck after quitting his job at an auto shop. So,… Continue reading “Penny Foolish” Employer Ordered to Pay Back Wages

On June 13, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) overruled a Trump-era decision and brought back the Obama-era 10-factor test that makes it easier for workers to show they are employees, not independent contractors, and thus subject to the protections of the National Labor Relations Act. In the Trump-era ruling, the Board determined that… Continue reading NLRB Revives Old Independent Contractor Test

Chaos theory, in physics, is the concept that systems rely upon an underlying order and are sensitive to initial conditions. As a result of this sensitivity, a small error or imprecision in the initial conditions grows over time at an enormous rate. Thus, two nearly identical sets of initial conditions for the same system may… Continue reading Chaos Theory, “the Slows,” and Human Resources