In this exceedingly trying time for workplaces, what role can empathy play in helping to enforce rules and standards?
Category Archives: Employment
DOL Issues Guidance On Small Business Exemption From COVID-19 Leave Law
Small businesses of less than 50 employees can who need to hold on to their workers and for whom the cost of leave is prohibitive can be exempted from the FFCRA, with some exceptions.
COVID-19 Emergency Sick and Family Leave: What Employers Need To Know
The emergence of COVID-19 has created new federal emergency sick and family leave requirements. We answer frequently asked questions in this post.
Not A Case Of The Mondays: The Legal Obligation To Manage Pandemics At Work
Providing a safe working environment includes managing pandemics, like Coronavirus. Marketplace Morning Report (2/10/20) explores how to raise health as a topic in the workplace to keep all employees informed and safe.
Not A Re-‘Hash’ – Just Clarifying The Law
On January 1, 2020, recreational cannabis use became legal in the State of Illinois. But as we previously reported here, Illinois’ new cannabis law raised questions about whether employers could continue workplace cannabis testing under circumstances previously taken for granted, including pre-employment and random testing. On December 4, 2019, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law Public Act 101-593 (The “Amendments”) in an apparent attempt to answer those questions and include certain new protections for workplace drug testing. Today’s post describes these amendments and identifies what employers should do now.
Gary Savine Featured in Illinois Bar Journal on Recreational Cannabis and the Workplace
We’re pleased to share that Gary Savine, principal, Savine Employment Law, Ltd. was featured in the January, 2020 cover story of the Illinois Bar Journal on the topic of recreational cannabis. The article, “Ready or Not, Cannabis Is Here,” by Ed Finkel, covers the myriad of legal issues raised by the availability of legal, recreational […]
Court Dishes Up FMLA Lessons For Managing Holiday Blues
As we polish off the last of the Thanksgiving turkey, we’re reminded that for some, particularly those suffering from holiday-triggered depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder, the holiday season can induce a psychological decline that leaves them unable to work. And as a recent federal appeals court ruling points out, this decline may trigger FMLA rights, even if the affected employee never specifically asks for leave.
I’ll Take That Relationship ‘To Go’ – Learning From McDonald’s CEO’s Ouster
The weekend’s news from McDonald’s that the board ousted CEO Steve Easterbrook for conducting what is described in the press as a “consensual relationship” in the workplace is a topic we'll review in today's post along with what tools are available to companies to manage workplace dating.
Illinois Ruling: Business Buyers, Review Sellers’ EEO Practices
Companies or individuals acquiring an existing business should determine if the seller faces potential civil rights violations and, if so, take this fact into account in the acquisition process. If a buyer overlooks these liabilities, they could inherit them, despite longstanding Illinois precedent against such “successor liability,” at least according to one appeals court.In People ex rel. Dep’t of Human Rights v. Oakridge Nursing & Rehab Ctr., the First District Appellate Court held that the general rule of successor corporate nonliability may not apply to Illinois Human Rights Act claims against predecessor companies, if circumstances fit an exception to non-liability previously applied only in federal courts.
SCOTUS Term Adds To Illinois Employers’ To-Do List
Today, the Supreme Court kicks off its new term with several employment cases, including cases on appeal from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals right here in Chicago. Illinois employers should keep tabs on these cases and anticipate how the Court’s rulings will add to a bevy of new compliance obligations going into effect in 2019-20.