In continued celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Littler shareholder Alyesha Asghar speaks with associates Alan Persaud and Grace Waddell about their experience in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s Pathfinders Program and the inclusive community of legal professionals they joined by participating.
  

On September 18, 2024, at the request of the State of Michigan and its attorney general, the Michigan Supreme Court clarified issues relating to future minimum wage rates and minimum cash wage rates for tip-credit employees stemming from an earlier opinion.

This article was originally posted in International Employment Lawyer.

Jeanine Conley Daves hosts a conversation between Tom Bender and Shin-I Lowe. They discuss the importance of mentorship, what a successful mentorship relationship looks like, and how male mentor influences are equally important to women.
  

(March 22, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, is pleased to announce new leadership for its ‘Ohana and Reunión affinity groups. Additionally, the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Council added six new members.

(March 23, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, is pleased to announce that several of its attorneys have been selected for the 2021 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellows and Pathfinders programs and the National Employment Law Council (NELC) Academy.

Kimberly Doud of Littler’s Orlando office, Chelsea Lewis of Littler's Miami office, and Kameron Miller of Littler's Charleston office present episode one of the Allied Behavior podcast series. Allied Behavior is focused on cultivating conscious conversations about inclusion, equity, diversity, and allyship in a corporate environment. In this episode, Kimberly, Chelsea, and Kameron discuss the importance of effective allyship and provide suggestions to turn allyship into meaningful action in the workplace.
  

Racially offensive symbols, such as Confederate flags, displayed in the workplace can constitute evidence of a racially hostile work environment. In light of this and our ever-increasing efforts to foster harassment-free workplaces, Alyesha Asghar Dotson discusses how employers can prepare for and respond when potentially offensive symbols appear in their workplace.
  

It was all very well to say ‘Drink me,’ but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. ‘No, I’ll look first,’ she said, ‘and see whether it’s marked “poison” or not’; for […] she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked ‘poison,’ it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.

                                           —Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 1, Down the Rabbit Hole

Michael Lotito says the Supreme Court’s decision to curb the SEC’s in-house courts may result in challenges for state labor agencies that use a similarly modeled in-house enforcement and appeals process.

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Alex MacDonald discusses recent court decisions that criticized the way the NLRB operates and that could transform American labor law.

Washington Legal Foundation

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On August 23, 2024, in Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the U.S. Department of Labor’s so-called “80/20/30 Rule” that governed how tipped employees must be paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Fifth Circuit found the Rule was inconsistent with the text of the FLSA, and was arbitrary and capricious. 

David Jordan discusses the framework of the 80/20 tip-credit rule and its current impact on employers after the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision leaves a version of the rule up for questioning.

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Dan Boatright discusses the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision to strike down the 80/20 labor rule and what that decision means for employers. 

Nation’s Restaurant News

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Erin Webber explains how a remote environment requires more leadership responsibility, skills and choices.

The American Lawyer

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Kimberly J. Dowd, Chelsea Lewis and Kameron Miller explain the meaning of “allyship” and how it can be applied in the workplace. 

ACC North Florida

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Stephanie Chavez offers advice to employers who are considering hiring individuals who have a criminal record.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Libby Henninger offers tips for employers paying disabled workers lower wages.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Pro Bono Committee Member Jenny Schwendemann is joined by Associate Don Nguyen, Customer Success Senior Coordinator Megan Gunn, Director Christie Bhageloe (Veterans Consortium Discharge Upgrade Program) and Associate Corporate Counsel Kate Brown (Amazon) to discuss Littler’s pro bono collaboration with Amazon in support of The Veterans Consortium.

Dear Littler,

We are a small company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that allowed some of our employees to work remotely during the pandemic. When we recently announced our plans to call employees back to home base in Milwaukee, we received feedback that some employees did not plan to come back—they want to continue working remotely. We anticipated this, and we’re working with them to navigate their individual situations, but we were surprised to learn that some of our employees have actually relocated to different states!

To support personnel transitioning from the military to the civilian workforce, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) in 2011 instituted the SkillBridge internship program, which provides service members with valuable civilian work experience through unpaid internships during their last 180 days of service, while the military continues to pay their wages and full benefits.

Bradford J. Kelley and James A. McGehee discuss mandates for employers involved in the SkillBridge internship program, which provides military members with civilian work experience.

Westlaw Today

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Adam Joshua Fiss and Sebastian Chilco discuss a new California law that will eliminate employers’ ability to require employees to use up to two weeks of company-provided vacation before they start receiving paid family leave benefits.

SHRM

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Update: This bill was signed into law on March 3, 2022.

Jim Paretti says several new bipartisan laws focused on issues women experience in the workplace may move employers to work on preventing instances that would violate the new measures.

Bloomberg Law

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On October 1, 2013, the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (DOL) published a final rule in the Federal Register eliminating the Fair Labor Standard Act's (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime exemption for home care workers employed by home care agencies and other companies.  The new regulations also significantly narrow the exemption for home care workers employed directly by the individuals or families receiving home care services. 

The district court's opinion denying cross-motions for summary judgment in Bobbitt v. Broadband Interactive, Inc., No. 8:11-cv-2855 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 21, 2013) illustrates how not to structure an independent contractor relationship and how not to lay the groundwork to defend that relationship in the event of litigation.  The case also serves as a warning that even well-conceived independent contractor relationships may be open to question by a court that is inclined to distrust them.

Background

MIAMI (March 25, 2024) – Emily Selig, an associate in the Miami office of Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has been selected as a 2024 fellow for The Leadership Academy, a South Florida-based program dedicated to advancing women in the legal profession.

“On behalf of the firm, I congratulate Emily on her selection as a Leadership Academy fellow,” said Lori Brown, Miami office managing shareholder. “Emily is an incredible talent, and we are proud to have her represent Littler.”

(April 3, 2024) – Three attorneys from Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, have been selected for the 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellows and Pathfinders programs. Shareholder Karimah J. Lamar (San Diego) will serve in the 2024 LCLD fellows class, and Associates Warsame Y.

MILWAUKEE (April 8, 2024) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has added John D. (J.D.) Tripoli as a shareholder in its Milwaukee office. Tripoli joins from Eimer Stahl LLP and focuses his practice on employment-related litigation.

(August 7, 2024) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has selected Devjani H. Mishra (Shareholder, New York) and Nicole S. LeFave (Shareholder, Austin) to lead its 'Ohana affinity group and SOAR Program, respectively.

LOS ANGELES (August 19, 2024) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has added Phillip Antablin as a shareholder in its Century City office in Los Angeles. Antablin previously served as Senior Counsel at Epstein Becker Green.

Shannon Meade talks about how the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) has affected employers in Illinois and how SB 2979 would update it and tweak its liability guidelines.

Law360

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Orly M. Henry calls a law to amend language addressing claim accrual in BIPA litigation long overdue and “a huge step in the right direction.”

Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

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Orly Henry says a recent BIPA amendment is an important change that will help protect businesses and help Illinois remain competitive in the global economy.

Law360

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