Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are required to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs. Two recent cases demonstrate the importance of recognizing when religious accommodations might be necessary. In March 2014, the EEOC published guidance on religious garb and grooming in the workplace. The guidance states that an employee does not […]
As Baby Boomers continue to age, an increasing number of elderly Americans and their families are forced to deal with the devastating effects of dementia. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, approximately 5.1 million Americans over the age of 65 suffer from some form of dementia. In addition, nearly half of all individuals […]
In an opinion dated January 13, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed a decision of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, unanimously holding that borrowers may exercise their three-year right of rescission under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) simply by providing written notice to their lender. The Court in Jesinoski v. […]
On Tuesday, January 13, 2015, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Mach Mining LLC v. EEOC, 13-1019, the outcome of which will have a significant effect on the EEOC conciliation process and a case we have posted on this blog previously. The dispute revolves around whether — and to what extent — […]
New Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reporting requirements went into effect on January 1, 2015. These new rules require all employers, even those who are exempt from routinely keeping OSHA injury and illness records due to company size or industry, to report all work-related fatalities, hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye to OSHA. Employers […]
Employers in today’s society are faced with a variety of workplace challenges, from complying with complex and often confusing employment laws to effectively managing a diverse workforce comprised of individuals from a broad spectrum of society. Let’s face it: managing your workforce, making the right employment decisions with regard to hiring, promotions, and terminations; and […]
There is a great quote from Oliver Wendall Holmes on complexity: “I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity”. Of course, there is the other great quote about complexity with its author of unknown origin: […]
On Monday, December 15, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued rules that will speed up the union election process. Although the rules do not take effect until April 14, 2015, employers should be aware of them and start preparing for the changes now. Under the current rules, representation petitions are filed seeking to […]
Most states, including Wisconsin, have a statute that automatically revokes as beneficiary a divorced spouse once the divorce is final. See, e.g., Wis. Stat. § 854.15. This means that, unless your will, trust, IRA, 401(k), life insurance, etc., provides otherwise, once a divorce decree is final, an individual’s ex-spouse and the ex-spouse’s relatives receive nothing […]
