By: John Vering

The United States Supreme Court has issued a unanimous ruling in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, 143 S.Ct.2686 (April 17, 2024) 22-193 Muldrow v. St. Louis (04-17-2024), which will make it easier for employees to bring discrimination lawsuits against their employers under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Title VII bars discrimination against employees and applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity), and national origin.

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By: Shannon Johnson

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) announced a new rule, which will go into effect on March 11, 2024, establishing a six-factor analysis that businesses should use in order to properly classify independent contractors vs. employees.  To businesses with past experience utilizing contractors, this “new” rule will not appear new at all – rather, it rejects a more recent rule published in 2021 that made it easier for businesses to classify their workers as independent contractors, and largely reinstates the long-standing “economic realities test” that was developed through Court precedent over the course of decades.

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By: Cody Weyhofen and John Vering

On August 30, 2023, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a proposed rule that seeks to significantly raise the minimum salary threshold needed to qualify for overtime-pay exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). If the rule takes effect, it’s estimated that an additional 3.6 million employees will become entitled to overtime compensation.

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By: Shannon Johnson

As explained in our previous client alert, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”), effective June 27, 2023, requires public and private sector employers with at least 15 employees to make reasonable accommodations for employees or applicants with known limitations related to or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, and other related conditions, absent undue hardship. The PWFA did not define what constitutes a reasonable accommodation, and Congress required the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) to propose regulations by the end of the year to provide examples of reasonable accommodations, among other things.

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By: Cody Weyhofen, Mark Opara, and John Vering

On August 2, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) adopted
a new standard to determine whether an employer’s workplace rules or policies violate employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”). As a result, many employers will need to review and revamp their employee handbooks and manuals to avoid a potential lawsuit.

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By: Cody Weyhofen

The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) recently announced changes to Form I-9 and its related document verification procedures. Although these changes will likely streamline the employee-onboarding process, employers will first need to comply with multiple upcoming deadlines and determine whether they qualify for remote verification procedures.

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By: Katie Conklin

On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Groff v. DeJoy, raising the standard for determining when a religious accommodation constitutes an “undue hardship” for an employer. Under the decision, an employer may only deny an employee’s request for religious accommodation if the accommodation would create a substantial hardship to the employer’s business.  

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