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On August 31, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued an Order invalidating the Final Rule of the Department of Labor (DOL) finding that it exceeded the DOL’s authority by failing to implement Congress’s intent under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Many employers offer wellness programs with varying degrees of incentives in order to have as many employees participate as possible. There has been an inherent tension between the laudable goals underlying wellness programs and two statutes that protect certain rights that employees have under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) recently reinstated the Wage and Hour Division opinion letter process, which ended about seven years ago. DOL opinion letters allow either employers or employees to ask the DOL whether specific practices comply with laws under its jurisdiction.

On June 7, 2017, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued the following press release that withdrew previously issued “informal guidance” regarding independent contractors and joint employment:

Employers (and everyone else) are guessing what it means for them after the Trump Administration takes office in January. It is safe to predict that there will be many changes coming in new legislation (with Republicans maintaining control of both the Senate and House), regulations and Executive Orders in the near future. As always, we will keep you apprised of further developments ...

Retaliation claims are asserted most often in charges filed with the EEOC and, consequently, pose a growing threat to employers.  Here are quick links to new EEOC Guidance, as well as some advice for actions employers should take to minimize the risks in this area.

In the latest development, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final Enforcement Guidance ...

Wage and hour lawsuits are very popular with plaintiffs’ employment lawyers these days.

Under long-established election–of–remedies law in Kentucky, a current or former employee seeking recovery for an alleged violation of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act had to choose whether to pursue a claim through the administrative system, e.g., the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights (“Commission”), or in a state court of law. Until recently, those who chose to pursue ...

In the new Legal Forum Column, BGD attorney Philip C. Eschels discussed applying the last in, first out rule. Read his advice below and don’t miss our monthly Legal Forum Column in Louisville Business First.

Topic
Do I need legal advice for a RIF if I apply the LIFO (last in, first out) rule?

Advice
Although using LIFO could be a legitimate factor in a reduction-in-force (RIF) situation ...

"We’ve got an older poor performer? We can just include him in a RIF… right?"

Managers and human resources personnel sometimes hear this question when a poorly performing employee is in a protected group but the poor performance is not well-documented. The temptation to include a poorly performing protected status employee in a reduction in force (RIF) as a means of avoiding or ...