The holidays are upon us, and that means holiday parties. While holiday parties are a good time to reflect on the year and gather employees to boost morale and camaraderie, they also have potential employment law pitfalls that employers should plan to avoid. If throwing a company-sponsored holiday party, employers should keep the following in […]
With the Wisconsin general election coming up next week on November 6, 2018, now is the time for employers to brush up on their obligations surrounding voting. All Wisconsin employers are required to provide employees who are eligible to vote up to three consecutive hours of unpaid leave to vote while the polls are open […]
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) requires that employers who request “consumer reports,” which include background checks, criminal histories, driving records, and credit reports, from a third-party service about employees and applicants follow certain rules. These rules contain specific requirements for notice, disclosure, and consent both in conjunction with obtaining a report and taking adverse […]
Wisconsin attorneys Sara Geenen and Erica Reib discuss the duties and risks for both employers and employees seeking to protect themselves.
On Friday, July 6, 2018, the Wisconsin Supreme Court determined that Marquette University had breached its contract with tenured professor John McAdams when it suspended him for discretionary cause after he authored a controversial blog post. McAdams claimed that the blog post fell within his rights to protected speech and academic freedom, whereas the University […]
For the last several years, employers have been operating under a cloud of confusion regarding whether provisions in employment agreements that require employees to engage in individual arbitration proceedings, as opposed to class proceedings, are enforceable. Finally, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, has given us an answer, and the answer is yes, such […]
On January 19, 2018, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a decision in The Manitowoc Company, Inc. v. Lanning affirming a 2016 Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruling that expanded the scope of Wis. Stat. § 103.465, which governs the enforceability of restrictive covenants, to include employee non-solicitation, or anti-raiding, provisions. We previously posted a blog about […]
Each year, Super Lawyers surveys the State’s attorneys and judges, seeking the State’s top attorneys. The lists for 2017 were recently published and, once again, a large number of our attorneys are included thereon. Dean Laing was named one of the Top 10 attorneys in Wisconsin for the third time. He was also named one of the Top […]
Last week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in which it stated that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require employers to give employees more leave after their Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allotment runs out. In Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft Inc., the employee had a back condition for which […]
On Thursday, a federal court in Texas issued summary judgment invalidating the Obama administration’s updated overtime regulations, which raised the minimum salary level for exempt employees from $455 to $913 per week. The Court determined that the “significant increase” was outside of the scope of Department of Labor’s (DOL) authority, as was the provision that […]
