Under a new ruling, law-abiding private employers in the Sunshine State can now feel a bit more secure even when their employees don’t. In February of 2017, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held in the case of Graddy v. Wal-Mart Stores East that the Florida Whistleblower Act (FWA), which Read more
Last May, OSHA issued a final rule amending its Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulation (29 CFR 1904). The final rule requires certain employers to electronically report injury and illness data to OSHA and to inform employees of their right to report work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation. The anti-retaliation provisions of the Read more
Yesterday, the federal Occupation Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) published a final rule that requires certain employers to electronically submit to OSHA information collected and recorded by employers concerning workplace injuries and illnesses. The data collected will help OSHA identify, target and remove safety and health hazards, thereby preventing occupational injuries, illnesses, and deaths. The information Read more
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects employees from discrimination on the basis of an employee’s race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status. Further, the law prohibits retaliation against Read more
The District of Columbia has stepped up enforcement efforts against wage theft. The District’s Wage Theft Prevention Amendment Act of 2014 (WTPAA) went into effect on February 26, 2015, imposing new recordkeeping obligations on employers, establishing additional wage enforcement procedures, and increasing penalties and damages when an employer violates one of several wage payment laws. Read more
In February, President Obama signed an Executive Order that will raise the hourly minimum wage rate for employees of federal contractors to $10.10 per hour beginning January 1, 2015. After that, the minimum wage will increase each year by a percentage measured by the Consumer Price Index. This month, the President ventured a step further Read more
This summer, Oregon passed a new law (HB 2669) that entitles unpaid interns to many of the same workplace protections as their employee counterparts. Under the law interns are protected from sexual harassment; discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status or age; and retaliation for whistle-blowing, among other things. Read more
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a memo this March to guide field compliance officers and whistleblower investigative staff regarding employer practices that may discourage employee reports of injuries and violate whistleblower statutes. Specifically, the memo reminds OSHA enforcement officials that reporting a work-related injury or illness is a core employee right. Read more
