McLane Middleton

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While employers in industries like construction and manufacturing are likely well-versed in specific Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulations, an often overlooked regulation called the General Duty Clause applies to every employer.

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (the “General Duty Clause”) requires an employer to provide a place of employment free from recognized hazards that may result in death or serious physical harm to its employees.  Violations include fines, legal liability, and reputational damage. Continue Reading Understanding the OSHA General Duty Clause

In a recent decision, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) ruled that overly broad confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements are unlawful. In fact, even the mere offering of a severance agreement with these clauses is unlawful. Employers typically include these clauses in severance agreements either to restrict an employee from discussing the severance terms with coworkers or to restrict the employee from publishing false or defamatory comments about the employer following the employee’s departure from the company.  The Board reasoned that these two clauses, if drafted too broadly, might cast too wide a net and have a “chilling effect” on an employee’s exercise of their protected rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”). This ruling applies to severance agreements offered in union and non-union private-sector workplaces.
Continue Reading NLRB Rules Overly Broad Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Clauses are Unlawful

To kick off the New Year, employers with 11 or more employees working in Maine will need to review their policy related to the handling of accrued yet unused paid vacation at the end of employment.

Maine passed an amendment to Labor Law §626 requiring unused vacation time accrued on and after January 1, 2023, to be paid to employee at the end of employment. Final wages, now including unused, accrued vacation, must be paid to terminated employees no later than the next established payday.
Continue Reading New Maine Vacation Payout Law Effective on January 1, 2023

On October 20, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published a new poster entitled “Know Your Rights.”  This new poster replaces the previous “Equal Employment Opportunity Is the Law” poster.  All employers subject to federal EEO laws must display the “Know Your Rights” poster on their premises in a conspicuous place.  The EEOC encourages employers to post it online as well.  An exclusively digital posting of “Know Your Rights” is permissible, but only if the employer does not have a physical location or its employees work remotely and do not come into the office regularly.
Continue Reading EEOC Releases New Mandatory Workplace Poster

Published in the New Hampshire Business Review (8/11/22)

New guidance narrows employers’ ability to screen employees.

On July 12, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 workplace guidance and this article summarizes the key topics that employers should understand.

Return to Work Testing and Documentation

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act

…

As part of its ongoing effort to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued temporary regulations to implement emergency leave benefits established under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).  These implementing regulations (29 CFR § 826) are available from the DOL at https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/Pandemic/FFCRA.pdf.

While the FFCRA greatly expands emergency leave, including emergency paid sick leave, benefits, employers may elect to exclude certain “health care providers” and “emergency responders” from these provisions of the FFCRA.  The following provides a brief summary of those employees who may be exempt.Continue Reading DOL’s Implementing Regulations Shed Some Light On Defining “Health Care Provider” Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)

One of the hallmarks of the Americans with Disabilities Act is that employers are required to have a dialogue—known as the “interactive process”—with an employee who requests or appears to be in need of an accommodation. A recent case, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination v. Tufts Medical Center, Docket No. 10-BEM-01133 (Dec. 18, 2019), provides some guidance for how an employer can fulfill its obligation to determine whether an employee’s disability can be accommodated.

In 2006, after about four years of working as an inpatient nurse at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, the Complainant was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and lung disease. The following year, she was excused from overtime responsibilities as an accommodation, but still worked without other restrictions. In the spring of 2009, Complainant took medical leaves and by the summer, had exhausted her job protection; in order to return to the nursing pool at Tufts Medical Center, Complainant was required to apply for vacant jobs. By October of 2009, she was cleared to return to work with no restrictions.

Continue Reading MCAD Awards Former Employee $420,000 in Damages for Employer’s Failure to Engage in Interactive Process

Photo: Moe Fournier via Flickr (Public Domain)

A majority of states now authorize the use of either medical or recreational marijuana, but it seems like CBD or cannabidiol is garnering as much attention as the stuff that actually causes the munchies.  What is all the buzz about?Continue Reading The ABC’s of CBD

In the United States, certain religious schools are legally permitted to limit or discontinue student enrollment if:

the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home, the activities of a parent or guardian, or the activities of the student are counter to, or are in opposition to, the biblical lifestyle the school teaches. This includes, but is not limited to contumacious behavior, divisive conduct, and participating in, supporting, or condoning sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity, promoting such practices, or being unable to support the moral principles of the school. (Lev. 20:13 and Romans 1:27.)

Continue Reading The Most Famous Elementary School Art Teacher in the United States and What She Has to Teach us About Discrimination