Epic Systems Corporation, a healthcare software company in Wisconsin thought it could prevent its employees from suing to recover alleged failure to pay overtime by a simple arbitration agreement. Epic required its employees, on pain of losing their jobs, to agree that any wage-and-hour claims would be settled only by individual arbitration and that such claims could not be pursued in a […]
Employers Can Make Up to 10% of Salary with Nondiscretionary Payments under the new FLSA Overtime Rules
While the updated salary requirements to be exempt from overtime are receiving all the headlines there were other important changes that will go into [WHEN] effect. One of those changes is a new rule that allows an employer to count non-discretionary payments towards the new $47,476.00 salary threshold. The rule caps this amount at [THE LESSER OF/GREATER […]
White Collar Exemption Salary Requirement More Than Doubled
The three White Collar Exemptions are by far the most common asserted by employers to avoid paying overtime. If an employer wants the apply the exemption to any employee, it must show that it pays the employee paid a minimum salary, and that the employee meets the particular duties test. The most common duties tests are as follows: […]
When Can an Employee Receive Unpaid Leave as an Accommodation Under The ADA
There has been a growing swell of litigation and negotiations between employers and employees to provide unpaid leave under the Americans with Disabilities act. In response to this increase in litigation (and focus), the EEOC issued a publication regarding the issue. The publication discusses a wide range of relevant topics including what employers and employees need to consider and […]
Justice Department Argues that Sexual Orientation Discrimination Can Violate Title VII
Sexual orientation discrimination is already illegal in many places, including Illinois. Discrimination against gay men and lesbians as well as bisexuals and transgendered persons has become a substantial part of the practice of many employment discrimination attorneys. But it is not, strictly speaking, a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the major […]
Have You Been the Victim of Abusive Non-Compete Agreements By Your Employer And/Or Others to Hold Your Wages Down?
The non-compete lawyers at Maduff & Maduff have spent years battling these abusive practices on behalf of clients using existing law. Now the administration has taken on these abuses with the issuance of a detailed study on the problem as a first step in strengthening worker protections. Furthermore, Vice President Joe Biden has taken a […]
A Lawsuit Has Been Filed Challenging The New Alabama Law That Bans Local Governments From Raising The Local Minimum Wage
A group of workers in Birmingham Alabama have challenged a new state law which prohibits local governments, specifically the City of Birmingham, from raising their minimum wages. Birmingham sought to raise its minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by next year in an effort to fight income inequality. Birmingham is about 74% African-American. Plaintiffs assert that […]
How Men and Women Are Facing Gender Discrimination In Today’s Workplace
Gender discrimination is not a new concept, as it has been around for quite some time. And while in today’s world, women have the ability to be as equally as successful as men, there are still things that certain genders may experience due to outdated and age old thoughts on gender equality. Men and Women Are […]
HR Firm Agrees to Pay $1 Million in Back Wages: Being Paid A Salary Does Not Exempt You From Overtime
In this case, a contract Human Resources firm (you would think they would get this stuff right) believed that by raising its employees salaries high enough it exempted them from the FLSA and its overtime provisions. The result of this misreading of the law was a $1 million dollar settlement to pay back wages to […]
New Non-Compete Cases Are Divided on Whether Continued Employment is Adequate Consideration to Support a Restrictive Covenant
Since a decision by an Illinois Appellate court in 2013 (which the Illinois Supreme Court declined to review) held that to support a non-compete agreement the employee must work for at least two years it has been a hotly debated issue. We discussed Fifield and a related case last January. Two recent non-compete decisions highlight the growing divide on this issue. […]