In a somewhat surprising and certainly controversial move, a federal court in Texas has issued a preliminary injunction stopping for the time being the DOL’s overtime rules from taking effect on December 1, 2016, as originally contemplated. Moreover, the court’s order applies to all employers on a nationwide basis. The primary DOL regulation at issue would have increased the minimum threshold salary for “white collar” exempt employees from $455 per week ($23,660 annually) to $913 per week ($47,476 annually). In granting an injunction, the court agreed with a number of states, including Ohio, that drastically raising the minimum salary needed …

On June 9, 2016, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed Sub. H. B. No. 523 into law and Ohio officially became the 25th state to legalize the use of medical marijuana. Responding to the growing acceptance of medical marijuana, the new law does allow individuals to use medical marijuana under certain conditions (see qualifying conditions below) outside of the workplace if they have a prescription from a medical professional. But the key point is that Ohio employers can still enforce a zero tolerance anti drug use policy. Even if an individual employee has a prescription for use of medical marijuana, an …

In the midst of the “alphabet soup” of regulations and regulators that could affect your business, Ohio has an ingredient all its own…the VSSR. The acronym stands for “violation of specific safety requirement.” The safety requirements involved are located in the Ohio Administrative Code, and are separated under classifications for “workshops and factories” and “construction.” The regulations are akin to OSHA regulations, but not always parallel or consistent with OSHA regulations. The regulations are enforced through processes supervised by the Industrial Commission of Ohio (the adjudicating body handling administrative hearings in workers’ compensation claims). If an employee believes that his …

If you’re unfamiliar with the processes of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), receiving a charge can present some confusion in addition to the stress already inherent in responding to a charge. Having some basic knowledge about the investigation process can go a long way in handling the charge and avoiding preventable mistakes. After a charge has been filed against your company, an OCRC investigator will call to notify you of the charge. They will usually ask for the contact information of the individual with your company tasked with responding to the charge …

This is a difficult time for unions throughout United States. The percentage of private sector employees covered by unions is at a historic low. Even in the public sector, unions are under stress due to straitened economic circumstances facing public sector employers and legal challenges to the union’s right to collect fair share dues. In spite of this however, a company or public entity which has a collective bargaining agreement and is faced with upcoming negotiations needs to carefully plan if it wants to maximize its chances of improving its position during negotiations. Based on my experience over the last …

An employer cannot refuse to hire an individual because of a religious practice that the employer could reasonably accommodate without hardship. In EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether an employer must have actual knowledge of the need for an accommodation. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. (“Abercrombie”), a clothing store, requires all store employees to comply with a dress code policy that includes a prohibition on wearing informal “caps.” Samantha Elauf was unaware of the dress code policy when she applied and interviewed for a sales position. At the interview she wore …

The National Labor Relations Board’s decision in Pier Sixty, LLC, 362 NLRB 59 (2015), will be startling to many managers struggling to maintain civility in the workplace. Increasingly, supervisors and human resource departments are expected to behave like lawyers and to ignore common sense for what should be routine discipline decisions. Although union activity is on the decline in most private sector industries, the catering company Pier Sixty was recently faced with an effort to unionize its New York operations. Two days before the employees were scheduled to vote on the EGU union petition, and just after receiving a reprimand …