GT L&E Blog Global Developments In Labor & Employment Law

Monthly Archives: May 2010

The Franchise Relationship: A New Front in the Attack on Worker Misclassification?

By Jonathan Israel on Posted in Legislation, Litigation, State Law, Wage & Hour

It is no secret:  Cash-strapped federal and state governments have been stepping up enforcement and increasing penalties against businesses that misclassify employees as independent contractors and exposing these businesses to additional employment-related liabilities for wage and overtime pay, health, welfare and retirement benefits, and income and employment tax contributions and withholding.  We have been watching… Continue Reading

DOL Introduces New Legislation Designed to Combat Unemployment Fraud

By GT Labor & Employment Team on Posted in Legislation

Employers may soon face new requirements in the Department of Labor’s efforts to reform the unemployment insurance program. On Monday, the Department announced that it had introduced legislation designed to combat fraud and reduce the overpayment of unemployment insurance benefits. According to Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, more than $11.4 billion in unemployment benefits… Continue Reading

No Faragher/Ellerth Defense for New York City Employers

By Jonathan Sulds on Posted in Harassment

New York City employers may not use the Faragher/Ellerth defense to harassment claims lodged under New York City’s Human Rights Law. That’s the verdict of New York’s Court of Appeals. (Zakrzewska v. New School. 2010 NY LEXIS 632 [May 6, 2010]). Instead, New York City employers will be strictly liable for harassment by supervisory or… Continue Reading

DOL Scraps Opinion Letters in Favor of Administrator Interpretations

By Michael Mason on Posted in Wage & Hour

After many years of issuing and publishing “opinion letters” interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor announced in March that it has stopped this practice, and will instead begin issuing “Administrator Interpretations.” Rather than responding to specific questions raised by employers — as it did in the old… Continue Reading

Discipline of Employees Who Have Engaged in Protected Activity

By GT Labor & Employment Team on Posted in Discrimination, Whistleblower

Lots of laws prohibit an employer from firing or taking some other adverse action against an employee based on the employee’s protected conduct, status, or activity. But what happens when you discover an employee’s misconduct only because he or she engaged in protected activity? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently answered… Continue Reading