On December 12, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule governing the regular rate of pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This is the first significant update relating to calculation of an employee’s regular rate in over fifty (50) years. The regular rate…
Indiana employers striving for strong but enforceable competitive restraints on their employees have new guidance from the Indiana Supreme Court’s decision in: Heraeus Med., LLC v. Zimmer, Inc., No. 19S-PL-471, 2019 WL 6485087 (Ind. Dec. 3, 2019)
Kolbe initially worked as a regional group director…
Illinois enacted its Equal Pay Act in 2003 (the “Act”) to prohibit employers from engaging in discriminatory payment practices based on an employee’s sex or race. Amendments recently took effect on September 29, 2019, that (1) expand the scope of the equal pay provisions and (2) prohibit employers…
In the wake of the #MeToo Movement, the Illinois legislature and Governor J.B. Pritzker have enacted new legislation to prevent sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination in the workplace. The legislation changes existing laws and enacts ones, imposing additional requirements and limitations for…
A recent decision of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals sensibly finds that an employer’s failure to address behavior problems immediately does not necessarily forfeit its right to count those “black marks” on the employee’s record when making employment decisions later. The court also confirms…
On August 8, 2019, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its opinion that the FMLA covers employees’ attendance at meetings to discuss the Individualized Education Program (IEP) of their children.
Background. The employer denied a mother’s request to take intermittent FMLA leave to attend her…
On June 12, 2019, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals determined that obesity qualifies as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) only if it results from an underlying physiological disorder or condition.
Background. In Richardson v. Chicago Transit Authority, 926 F.3d 881 (7…
On September 19, 2019, the Chicago District Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a settlement agreement with CITGO Petroleum Corporation’s Lemont, Ill., refinery, to resolve allegations that CITGO violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).[1] As a part of…
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as Amended (Rehab Act) prohibits disability discrimination in programs conducted by federal agencies, in programs receiving federal financial assistance, in federal employment, and in the employment practices of federal contractors. A recent case from the Seventh…
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking yesterday with respect to current overtime regulations. The status of the DOL’s overtime regulations has been in limbo since 2016, when a final rule was issued changing the salary requirements for the categories of employees…
After months of employers wondering what would happen to the new overtime rule that was to go into effect on December 1, 2016, but was halted through an injunction issued by a federal district court, we have some new insight. But first, some history.
The anticipated overtime rule under the Fair…
On June 7, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it was withdrawing an Administrator’s Interpretation (Interpretation) issued just two years earlier, on July 15, 2015, which set forth criteria for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the…
