Workers who have been faced with the unfortunate event of a violation of their employment rights must seek assistance from an employment attorney right away. There are significant areas of employment rights, and knowing who to turn to, whether its sexual harassment, racial discrimination, or anything else, is crucial to ensuring the proper actions are […]
A New Year Brings New Employment Laws For Illinois
On January 1, 2017 a number of new laws went into effect in Illinois. Whether you are an employer or an employee, here are some employment laws you should know: Social Media Password Protections House Bill 4999 makes it illegal for an employer, or potential employer, to ask you to sign into your social media account […]
UPDATE: Change in FLSA Overtime Exemption for Domestic Service Workers is Put on Hold
As we discussed at length in our a previous blog post the Department of Labor issued a new rule that updated the definition of “companionship services” which would have entitled many more domestic service workers to overtime pay. The proposed rules have now be vacated by a Judge in Washington DC. In making his ruling, the Judge […]
Excessive Non-Competes: The Jimmy Johns Problem
While non-compete agreements do have their purpose, they are over used and abused by employers. As a general proposition, they are disfavored in most states as a restraint upon trade. Most recently, a non-compete agreement that Jimmy Johns’ Sandwich shop has used with even its low wage workers has caused a stir in the employment […]
Supreme Court Hears Overtime Arguments on Pay for Security Checks
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employees be paid time and a half for overtime. But there is an exception for activities which are not part of the job. Historically the test for determining whether an activity is part of one’s job and therefore “work” for which the employee must be paid is whether […]
FedEx “Independent Contractors” are Entitled to Overtime—Federal Appellate Court Rules that FedEx Misclassified its Employees
On August 27, 2014, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California rejected FedEx’s argument that its drivers were independent contractors and concluded that they were in fact employees entitled to overtime pay and meal period benefits under California law. The Court ruled that a class of approximately 2,300 delivery drivers may proceed with their class claims […]
ILLINOIS LAW GRANTS WORKPLACE PROTECTION TO PREGNANT WOMEN AND NEW MOTHERS
House Bill 8, signed into law this (last) week, becomes effective January 1, 2015. It provides new protections in the workplace for pregnant women and new mothers. This law requires specific reasonable accommodations for pregnant women including restrictions on heavy lifting, manual labor, access to places to sit, additional time to recover from pregnancies, a private space […]
FLSA Overtime Exemption is Changing for Domestic Service Workers
Effective January 1, 2015, the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime exemption for Domestic Service Workers is changing. The Department of Labor has issued a fact sheet which highlights the changes. Once these new changes go into effect, many Domestic Service Workers who were not previously entitled to be paid overtime will be eligible for overtime at a rate of […]