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Workers’ Compensation: Tips for Protection from Retaliation Claims

How can employers protect themselves and reduce the likelihood of retaliation claims when disciplining or terminating an employee who has previously filed a workers’ compensation claim? If a claim of retaliation is feared, what evidence will help prove the employer acted legally? Avoiding Retaliation Claims: Tips When Terminating a Prior Workers’ Compensation Claimant Most employers […]

NLRB says employees may use company computers for organizing activity

In perhaps one of its boldest moves, on December 11, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overturned existing precedent and held that employees have the right to use their employer’s e-mail system for Section 7 concerted activity, including union-organizing activities, during nonbusiness hours. The decision obviously affects employers’ policies on employee e-mail use. As background, the […]

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Test for Classifying Workers is Shifting Away From ‘Economic Reality’

In May 2025, the Trump administration’s U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published guidance saying that it would stop enforcing a Biden-era rule—one that had rescinded a rule created during the first Trump administration—on the factors distinguishing independent contractors from employees. Although the Biden-era rule remains “on the books” for now while the DOL considers replacing […]

Impact on Life Duration & Quality Drives Drug Value

A prescription drug’s ability to prolong life is a top factor health plans are using when fixing benchmark prices for drug reimbursement, followed by the drug’s ability to improve the patient’s quality of life, health care stakeholders said at an April 15 briefing hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform. Steven Pearson, MD, MSc, president […]

News Flash: Workers’ Compensation Resurfaces In Sacramento

  Last year Gov. Davis vetoed a bill to increase workers’ comp benefits. But, as expected, the issue has already emerged in a new bill, S.B. 71, that calls for a study to make recommendations for boosting benefits and implementing other workers’ comp reforms. Employer proposals include reducing permanent disability payments when an employee returns […]

Can an Early Retirement Nudge Lead to a Lawsuit?

Employers are often reluctant to follow up on allegations made against employees nearing retirement age, both because of the fear of age bias claims, and because these employees stand to lose valuable retirement and other benefits if they’re terminated. For these reasons, employers sometimes suggest that the employee take early retirement rather than risk termination.

Be prepared even if taking the wait-and-see approach

My son is addicted to movie trailers. Don’t get me wrong, I love movie trailers myself, but my son takes it to another level. I recently checked the YouTube history on the iPad we permit our kids to use and found that instead of playing games on the multitude of kid-friendly applications we downloaded, my […]

Americans With Disabilities Act Update: New Rulings Show The Law Can Protect Employees Who Aren’t “Disabled”; Even Teasing Can Trigger Coverage

When the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1992, the initial questions focused on how to reasonably accommodate disabled workers. But there is another sticky problem that has been surfacing more recently: just who is entitled to ADA protection? You might be surprised to discover that the answer is broader than you think. Even […]

New Tennessee law allows guns in trunks at work

by Kara E. Shea A new Tennessee law clearing up two years of confusion related to whether employers can enforce no-weapons policies goes into effect July 1. Gun-rights advocates have prevailed. The new law prohibits employers from firing employees for complying with Tennessee’s “guns in trunks” statute, which was passed in 2013. That law states […]

Deterring Intermittent FMLA Leave Abuse

by Susan M. Webman and Burton F. Fishman of Fortney & Scott, LLC The new Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations, while not a panacea for the long-standing problem of employees using FMLA rights as an excuse to take leave on an intermittent and, at times, seemingly irrational basis, do offer some help in […]