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Employers can expect to face a rash of requests that reflects rising employee IQ regarding what can be accommodated beyond the usual disability and religious considerations. In this podcast, Jackson Lewis principals Patricia Anderson Pryor and Katharine C. Weber explore the context and challenges of this expanding accommodations environment. 

The push for fuller transparency continues in 2023, with new state laws coming into effect and the possibility of federal-level activity. Jackson Lewis principals Laura A. Mitchell and Margaret J. (Peggy) Strange cover the compliance complexity of such a patchwork and address the best thing employers can do right now. 

Avoiding workplace hazards in the construction industry may be next to impossible, but it's critical to ensure the health and safety of employees as well as maintaining compliance with potentially dangerous OSHA regulations.

All hotels aspire to provide their guests with top-quality service no matter the location or type of establishment. As guests resume—and ramp up—their business and personal travel post-COVID-19, all establishments must be prepared to accommodate individuals with disabilities. Ensuring grounds, sleeping rooms, bathrooms, and websites are accessible goes beyond simply maintaining legal compliance.

Maintaining a competitive edge in the brick and mortar retail space can involve taking risks—having employees use ladders in day-to-day operations is one most retailers cannot avoid. However, preventing and reducing ladder-related accidents and injuries is essential to keeping your workers and customers safe.

Employers are apt to focus on OSHA's heat-related enforcement rules when temperatures are high, but protecting workers from heat hazards is critical throughout the year when fluctuations in temperature changes are unsafe.

During the busy holiday season, retailers work harder than any other time of the year and, consequently, can experience an uptick in workplace incidents involving customer and coworker misbehavior.

California is pushing the pay envelope to enhance transparency and pay equity for employees in the state. Effective January 1, 2023, Senate Bill 1162 requires California companies with 15 or more employees to include the pay scale for the position in every job posting, and to report additional information on their employees' pay and diversity to the California Civil Rights Division.

Tech startup companies often choose to compensate or incentive employees with some form of equity to conserve precious cash. Compensating employees with equity acts as an incentive for employees to work hard to get the company's product ready for market, with a potential big payoff down the road. But determining what kind of equity compensation is right for a particular business can be difficult a...

It's no secret that the statutory deck under ERISA is stacked heavily in favor of multiemployer pension plans and against employers contributing to—or withdrawing from—Taft-Hartley trust funds. Construction employers should take demands for withdrawal liability seriously. The failure to strictly adhere to statutory deadlines can be, and often is, catastrophic by denying an employer the ability to...

The Great Resignation and lasting effects of COVID-19 have retailers fighting for talent. In what continues to be a very tight labor market, employers are enhancing employee benefits offerings hoping to recruit and retain employees. On this episode of We get work™, we discuss out of the box benefit offerings retail employers should consider, including the compliance and tax issues to keep in mind...

The U.S. Supreme Court decisions that were issued in June 2022 had a significant impact on employers, and employers are now looking at implementing policies and practices in response to the decisions. The Court's decisions broadly affected employment in areas such as privacy, benefits, religious accommodation, and gender discrimination. Looking forward, employers should be poised to act quickly to...

Recent Supreme Court decisions, congressional primaries and economic issues have resulted (at times) in contentious and polarizing discussions inside and outside the workplace. These recent events and related social movements remind us how tenuous the balance remains between free speech and a safe, harmonious workplace. What should an employer do?

The United States Supreme Court held that California's Private Attorneys General Act rule is preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act to the extent California precludes division of PAGA actions into individual arbitrable claims and non-individual, non-arbitrable claims. On this episode of We get work™, we discuss the ramifications for PAGA actions in California now that the Supreme Court's decisio...

While June is a month to celebrate our Pride, it is also a time to reflect on the importance of coming out in the workplace and how all employees have a critical role to play as allies to LGBTQ staff, clients and community. On this episode of We get work™, we will explore coming out in the workplace and allyship through shared personal journeys and how to build a roadmap for allyship in your organ...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a new indoor and outdoor heat enforcement initiative impacting over 70 high risk industries. With the goal of mitigating employee exposure to heat hazards in the workplace, the agency intends to ramp up its efforts by increasing inspections and enforcement activity across the targeted industries.

Employers searching for skilled workers should not overlook the powerful, but somewhat obscure immigration tool–the E visa. While use of this visa is dependent on certain treaty laws, qualifying organizations may employ the E visa to hire employees which can provide needed options for companies to replace employees in the post-pandemic economic marketplace. On this episode of We get work™ we share...

On March 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard an oral argument in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana  to decide whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires enforcement of a bilateral arbitration agreement providing that an employee cannot raise representative claims, including claims under California's Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).

Congress recently passed Omnibus spending legislation that includes reauthorization of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program which has been suspended since June 2021. The EB-5 program has provided foreign direct investment to the U.S. while providing green cards to foreign nationals in return. The reauthorization of the program will help U.S. developers access capital from overseas w...

Welcome and thank you for joining us for this special edition of We Get Work, live from Miami, Florida and CCC2022, Jackson Lewis' premier workplace law conference. What follows are three short episodes on the impact of the pandemic and how it continues to shape workplace law, including our plenary session on COVID-19 trends, our program on the pandemic's influence on gender equity in the workplac...

Welcome and thank you for joining us for this special edition of We Get Work, live from Miami, Florida and CCC2022, Jackson Lewis' premier workplace law conference. Next up: a summary of our sessions employee benefits and the far flung workforce--how COVID-19 and current legislation are changing the value proposition for employee benefits, preparing for fast moving mandates and capitalizing on opp...

Welcome and thank you for joining us for this special edition of We Get Work, live from Miami, Florida and CCC2022, Jackson Lewis' premier workplace law conference. What follows are two short episodes on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plenary session and the attorney wellness presentation—programs that reinforce that employers should continue to prioritize human capital in 2022 and beyond.

Welcome and thank you for joining us for this special edition of We Get Work, live from Miami, Florida and CCC2022. What follows are conversations on the programs focused on three of the firm's core practices since its founding in 1958: labor relations, class action litigations and the trials and appeals practice. Also included is a summary of our spotlight on California, presented by our resource...

H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers present many challenges for employers seeking to bolster their workforce. As the labor market continues to change as a result of the pandemic, employers should understand the H-2B process and pitfalls with the program. On this episode of We get work™, we provide an overview of the H-2B visa and discuss whether this is a tool that employers can consi...

Appointing justice to the United States Supreme Court is a decision that has an immediate and potentially decades-long impact on Supreme Court jurisprudence, as well as a lasting impact on a president's legacy. On this episode of We get work ™, we discuss President Biden's historic nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and how her background may influence labor and employment law in the years...