The National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”) is a Federal law that provides all employees with the right to engage in certain protected activities related to the terms and conditions of their employment. The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), the administrative agency that enforces the Act, increasingly scrutinized employee handbooks during the past decade. Oftentimes, the NLRB found common and seemingly neutral policies were unlawful because those policies could be “reasonably construed” by employees to prohibit the exercise of the rights protected by the Act. Many employers responded by revising or removing such policies. The NLRB, however, recently adopted a new test that will likely allow employers more flexibility to maintain such policies.

Please follow this link to read the full article… Feb 2018 Employment Law Update

Under a newly enacted Wisconsin law, minors aged 16-17 are no longer required to obtain a work or street trade permit. In fact, the Department of Workforce Development (“DWD”) has stated it will no longer issue such permits to individuals who are 16 or 17 years old.

Read the full article HERE.

Employers may experience high absence rates this upcoming Friday February 17, 2017, because a national “General Strike Against Trump” is being arranged by a grassroots movement called “Strike4Democracy.” The strike (the first in a proposed series, the next of which is set for March 8) encourages individuals to participate in myriad methods, one of which is to miss work. Employers whose employees miss work to participate in this, or any other, “strike” should analyze the particular circumstances surrounding the absence before disciplining an employee. Otherwise, the employer may face an unfair labor practice charge.

Read the entire article HERE.

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its final rule updating the overtime exemptions for “white collar” positions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The new rule goes into effect on December 1, 2016 and will extend overtime pay protections to over 4 million workers within the first year of implementation. Under the new rule, employees still must satisfy a two-part test to be considered exempt: the duties test and the salary test. The new rule did not change the duties test. It did, however, change the salary thresholds for both standard exemptions and the highly compensated employee exemption.

Please read the full article HERE.

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) will release final rule later this year that will greatly reduce the number of employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).

Please read the full article HERE

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) recently announced a new standard for determining joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). This announcement changed decades of precedent and expanded the definition of the joint employer relationship.

Please read the full article HERE. 

“Wisconsin has joined fellow Midwestern states Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan in enacting “right to work” legislation. Under the new law, no person may be required,  as a condition of employment, to: (1) refrain or resign from a union; (2) become a member of a union; or (3) pay dues or provide anything of value to a union.”

Please read the full article HERE

IRS ISSUES REVENUE RULING STATING LEGAL-SAME SEX MARRIAGES RECOGNIZED FOR FEDERAL TAX PURPOSES

The Internal Revenue Service has issued Revenue Ruling 2013-17, which states that same-sex couples who are legally married in a jurisdiction that recognizes their marriage will be treated as married for federal tax purposes regardless of where they are domiciled. This decision was made after the United States Supreme Court invalidated provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) in its 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor.

Same Sex Marriage – IRS tax law update

A new tally of the most-cited law review articles of all time gives the edge – to the Harvard Law Review. But Yale Law School’s according to the National Law Journal.