On August 1, 2016, the Department of Labor updated its mandatory Fair Labor Standards Act Minimum Wage poster. All employers subject to the FLSA must display this newly revised poster in prominent locations in the workplace where all employees and applicants can readily see it. The updates to the newly revised poster include information on […]

Last November, we alerted you (here) that, in August 2016, OSHA penalties would be increasing significantly. Those new maximum penalties went into effect on August 1, 2016 and can be applied to any citation issued for a violation that occurred after November 2, 2015. The below chart summarizes the previous penalties and the new penalties, […]

Employers, including federal contractors, with 100 or more employees are required to file employer information reports, called an EEO-1 with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). The data collected currently includes data on race, ethnicity, and gender. However, under a revised proposal by the EEOC issued on July 14, 2016, as of March 31, 2018, companies […]

Today, in Miller & Anderson, Inc. v. Tradesmen International and Sheet Metal Works International Association, Local Union No. 19, AFL-CIO, the NLRB decided that, pursuant to the NLRA, temporary or leased employees who work for an employer as joint employees under an agreement with a staffing agency or similar entity do not have to have […]

Today, in Miller & Anderson, Inc. v. Tradesmen International and Sheet Metal Works International Association, Local Union No. 19, AFL-CIO, the NLRB decided that, pursuant to the NLRA, temporary or leased employees who work for an employer as joint employees under an agreement with a staffing agency or similar entity do not have to have […]

Last week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision stating that class waivers in arbitration agreements for employees are invalid. The Court in Lewis v. Epic Systems Corp. adopted the controversial position of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and found that a collective and class action waiver in an employer’s contract violated […]

Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) finalized new record-keeping and reporting rules that require certain employers to electronically submit information about workplace injuries and illnesses to OSHA. The electronic reporting requirements of the rule apply only to employers with 250 or more employees and to employers with between 20 and 249 employees […]

On Wednesday, May 4, 2016, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker approved an emergency rule submitted by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Under this emergency rule, certain individuals receiving unemployment benefits will be required to be drug free in order to continue receiving unemployment benefits. Specifically, the new rule will require individuals who are receiving unemployment […]

This week, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals issued an important ruling on what “substantial fault” means in the context of unemployment compensation. In 2013, the Wisconsin legislature amended the unemployment insurance statutes to state that, in addition to discharge for misconduct and voluntary termination of work, employees would be denied unemployment benefits if they were […]

Although federal administrative agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Department of Labor have recently pushed to expand the definition of “joint employer” under their respective laws, employers in Wisconsin can take some solace in recent legislation. Under Wisconsin Senate Bill 422, which became effective March […]

Archives