Aney Chandy, Executive Director, Senior Counsel for Labor and Employment at Allergan, shares some tips on how employers can address gender identity inclusion in the workplace.

This is a "Tip of the Week" segment from Employment Law This Week® (Episode 139: Week of April 1, 2019), an online series by Epstein Becker Green. youtu.be/GxTIYwb5CCw

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These materials have been provided for informational purposes only and are not intended and should not be construed to constitute legal advice. The “Tip of the Week” offers one perspective on possible human resource ideas or business practices. It presents the perspective of an individual not affiliated with Epstein Becker Green and should not be considered legal advice. The content of these materials is copyrighted to Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

This Employment Law This Week® Monthly Rundown features a recap of the most important news from March 2019. The episode includes:

1. New Jersey Limits Nondisclosure Agreements in Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Settlements

On March 18, 2019, New Jersey enacted a law that limits the use of nondisclosure provisions to maintain confidentiality regarding workplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims. Denise Merna Dadika, from Epstein Becker Green, has more details:

"The new law makes any nondisclosure provision in an employment contract or a settlement agreement that has the purpose or effect of concealing the details relating to a claim of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment unenforceable against an employee. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, nondisclosure agreements have been the focus of many legislatures. Most of these laws, however, are narrower in scope than New Jersey, in that they're limited to banning disclosure of sexual harassment claims, whereas New Jersey extends to any form of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation."

2. DOL Issues Proposed Overtime Rule

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its long-awaited proposed changes to overtime salary thresholds, which would replace an Obama administration rule that was blocked by a federal judge in 2017. Paul DeCamp, from Epstein Becker Green, has more:

"The [DOL] has announced that it wants to update the regulation governing the exemption for executive, administrative, and professional employees, and it wants to do that by increasing the minimum salary threshold to $679 per week, which is an increase of about 50 percent over the existing level. The [DOL] contemplates in the rulemaking that the final rule will become effective in January of 2020. That's probably a bit optimistic if we look at the normal timetables for rulemakings of this sort. It would be more likely to see the final rule issued in late 2019 or early 2020, becoming effective in early to mid-2020."

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3. District Court Reinstates Pay Data Collection

Another federal judge has hit the restart button on Obama-era EEO-1 pay data collection requirements. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) stayed the requirements in 2017 before they went into effect. It’s unclear what the impact the judge’s decision to lift the stay will have on the 2018 reports EEO-1 reports, which are due May 31. Ann Knuckles Mahoney has more.

For now, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has said that, for the 2018 report’s pay data collection, it will require Component 1 data detailing the demographics of an employer’s workforce but not the new Component 2 wage and hours data. However, there is legal pushback on this, so those requirements could still change.

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4. State Legislatures Focus on Sexual Harassment Training in Restaurants

A new regulatory trend is beginning to emerge in the hospitality sector. New Jersey and Illinois have both proposed legislation that requires restaurants, specifically, to institute sexual harassment training policies. Unlike in California and New York, there is no legislation in either state requiring this sort of training for all private-sector employers. It’s too soon to tell yet whether sexual harassment regulations are beginning to get more industry specific, or if we’re simply seeing a reaction to recent scandals in high-profile restaurants. We’ll be monitoring developments in this area.

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5. Tip of the Week

Aney Chandy, Executive Director, Senior Counsel for Labor and Employment at Allergan, shares some tips on how employers can address gender identity inclusion in the workplace.

Visit EmploymentLawThisWeek.com.

These materials have been provided for informational purposes only and are not intended and should not be construed to constitute legal advice. The “Tip of the Week” offers one perspective on possible human resource ideas or business practices. It presents the perspective of an individual not affiliated with Epstein Becker Green and should not be considered legal advice. The content of these materials is copyrighted to Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® is a registered trademark of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.

This Employment Law This Week Deep Dive episode looks at “predictive scheduling laws,” which are laws that require employers to publish employee work schedules a certain amount of time in advance so that employees (especially those in the hospitality and retail industries) can have greater flexibility and work-time predictability to deal with family and other events and responsibilities. Attorneys Jeffrey Landes, Jeffrey Ruzal, and Adriana Kosovych of Epstein Becker Green discuss the trend toward enacting predictive scheduling laws, the impact that these laws can have on business profitability and costs, and the strategies for compliance.

Read on for more about this episode:

1. Predictive Scheduling Laws, the New Normal?

Taking the guesswork out of scheduling for wage workers is an attractive proposition for regulators. Several cities and one state—Oregon—currently have predictive scheduling laws on the books, and the trend is growing, with proposed legislation in many jurisdictions across the country.

Jeffrey Landes:

“This number is growing largely because there is a trend to protect employees in low-wage industries, and there is a concern about making sure that they have more predictable scheduling so that it does not disrupt their family life, and so that they can also have a steady stream of income.”

Adriana Kosovych:

“It does appear that, at least for the time being, there has been a shift in the way regulators view hospitality and retail workers and the industries in which they operate.”

2. Impact on Profitability and Costs

Jeffrey Ruzal:

“Employers in the hospitality industry will definitely be affected by predictive scheduling laws, because of the ebbs and flows of their business demands, which are largely controlled by their customer base. It’s also certainly difficult for hospitality employers to know between three and 14 days in advance, depending on the jurisdiction of the predictive scheduling law, of how many employees they will need for a particular shift, which can certainly have an impact on the business and the business’s profitability.”

Jeffrey Landes:

“These types of laws are going to force retail employers to think strategically about their staffing model, and it may also result in having more full-time employees, which can, for employers, increase costs. They will be eligible for health care benefits,; they may be eligible for other benefits, as well. Therefore, it can have a significant impact on retail employers.”

Click here for more: ebglaw.com/news/philadelphia-enacts-fair-workweek-ordinance/

3. Strategies for Compliance

Jeffrey Ruzal:

“Hospitality employers should plan for predictive scheduling laws by addressing their policies and practices, training management so that they fully understand what is required, as well as thinking strategically about planning for their schedules for employees in the future to ensure full compliance.”

Adriana Kosovych:

“Employers should also ensure that relevant personnel are familiar with all applicable minimum wage rates. And finally, employers should consider implementing a record-keeping system that will help demonstrate compliance if they are ever audited by the government agency that is going to be enforcing these laws.”

Jeffrey Landes:

“Another significant challenge and concern for retail employers is the fact that these laws are being passed in a variety of cities and other jurisdictions, which forces you to pay more attention to compliance initiatives and means that employers may have to have different scheduling practices and different policies and procedures for retail employers in different jurisdictions.”

Visit EmploymentLawThisWeek.com.

These materials have been provided for informational purposes only and are not intended and should not be construed to constitute legal advice. The “Tip of the Week” offers one perspective on possible human resource ideas or business practices. It presents the perspective of an individual not affiliated with Epstein Becker Green and should not be considered legal advice. The content of these materials is copyrighted to Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® is a registered trademark of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.

A Trending News interview from Employment Law This Week®, featuring attorney Denise Dadika of Epstein Becker Green:

On Monday, March 18, New Jersey enacted a law banning mandatory non-disclosure provisions in employment contracts and harassment, discrimination, and retaliation settlements. However, it remains legal for employers and employees to agree to these provisions voluntarily.

We invite you to view Employment Law This Week® – tracking the latest developments that could impact you and your workforce. The series features three components: Trending News, Deep Dives, and Monthly Rundowns.

Watch the series and subscribe for email notifications: EmploymentLawThisWeek.com.

These materials have been provided for informational purposes only and are not intended and should not be construed to constitute legal advice. The content of these materials is copyrighted to Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® is a registered trademark of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.
EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® is a registered trademark of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

A trending news interview from Employment Law This Week®, featuring attorney Ann Knuckles Mahoney of Epstein Becker Green:

On March 4, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia lifted a government stay on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Obama-era pay data collection requirement.

We invite you to view Employment Law This Week® – tracking the latest developments that could impact you and your workforce. The series now features three components: Trending News, Deep Dives, and Monthly Rundowns.

Watch the series and subscribe for email notifications: EmploymentLawThisWeek.com.

These materials have been provided for informational purposes only and are not intended and should not be construed to constitute legal advice. The content of these materials is copyrighted to Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® is a registered trademark of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.
EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® is a registered trademark of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.