Workforce Bulletin

By:  Jordan Schwartz

Due to the ever changing laws surrounding the legality of marijuana, many of our hospitality clients have recently asked us whether it is lawful to terminate an employee who has tested positive for marijuana.  The answer varies greatly depending on the state in which you are located.  

States continue to pass legislation legalizing marijuana use for specific purposes.  On July 5, 2014, New York became the twenty-first state along with the District of Columbia to legalize marijuana use for certain medical conditions—joining Alaska, Arizona, California ...

The issue of joint-employer status has become a prominent issue of concern for retailers, many of which are comprised of franchises or include independent boutiques and counters in their stores. As the NLRB moves towards a broader definition of joint employer status, the  NLRB’s General Counsel’s position in a series of cases involving McDonald’s and numerous franchisees across the country appears to foreshadow the NLRB’s new, more aggressive position on what factors establish the joint employer relationship.

On Epstein Becker Green’s Management Memo blog, Steven ...

With the  continued strength of franchising in the hospitality sector and the ever growing reliance on vendors and subcontractors to perform many functions in distribution, maintenance, asset protection and other functions  that hospitality employers historically  performed with their own employees, creating different levels of integration and affiliation between hospitality entities among providers and their various service providers and contractors, the issue of joint-employer status has become a prominent issue of concern. As the NLRB moves towards a broader ...

On Epstein Becker Green’s Management Memo blog, Steven M. Swirsky reviews the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) recent decision regarding Bergdorf Goodman’s New York Store’s women’s shoe sales employees.

Following is an excerpt from the blog post:

The NLRB finds that the women’s shoe sales employees at Bergdorf Goodman’s New York Store are not an appropriate unit for bargaining. The Board’s unanimous decision to reverse the Regional Director’s finding that the shoe sales team did constitute an appropriate unit and could have their own vote on ...

By Michelle Capezza, Ian Carleton Schaefer, and Arthur O’Brien (upSKILL Project Manager, NJIT)

The New Jersey Technology Council (NJTC) is a not-for-profit, trade association which focuses on connecting decision-makers and thought-leaders from technology and technology support companies through access to financing opportunities, networking, and business support. Through its programs, the NJTC provides timely business information to help its members grow and succeed and provides forums for member companies to work together to advance New Jersey’s, and the ...

By: Amy B. Messigian

In a major blow to California employers who utilize a monthly commission scheme but pay biweekly or semimonthly salary to their commission sales employees, the California Supreme Court ruled earlier this week in Peabody v. Time Warner Cable, Inc. that a commission payment may be applied only to the pay period in which it is paid for the purposes of determining whether an employee is exempt from overtime.  Employers may not divide the commission payment across multiple pay periods in order to satisfy the minimum compensation threshold for meeting the exemption in any ...

Epstein Becker Green and The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) have released a new issue of the Benefits Litigation Update.

Featured articles include:

Recent Supreme Court Decisions Revise Rules for Stock Drop Cases
By: Debra Davis, The ERISA Industry Committee

Hobby Lobby and the Questions Left Unanswered
By: John Houston Pope

Post-Amara Landscape Continues to Evolve
By: Scott J. Macey, The ERISA Industry Committee

Supreme Court to Decide Whether A Failed Class Action May Extend
Deadline to Bring Follow-on Claims By Individual Plaintiffs
By: John Houston Pope and Debra Davis

Epstein Becker Green and The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) have released a new issue of the Benefits Litigation Update.

Featured articles include:

Recent Supreme Court Decisions Revise Rules for Stock Drop Cases
By: Debra Davis, The ERISA Industry Committee

Hobby Lobby and the Questions Left Unanswered
By: John Houston Pope

Post-Amara Landscape Continues to Evolve
By: Scott J. Macey, The ERISA Industry Committee

Supreme Court to Decide Whether A Failed Class Action May Extend
Deadline to Bring Follow-on Claims By Individual Plaintiffs
By: John Houston Pope and Debra Davis

By: Christopher M. Farella, Jennifer L. Nutter, and Margaret C. Thering

Whitney Wolfe, former marketing vice president and co-founder of the company responsible for the popular mobile dating app, Tinder®, recently filed suit in California state court alleging sexual harassment and discrimination surrounding her experience and eventual departure from the company.  Tinder Inc.'s parent companies, IAC and Match.com, are also named as defendants.  While the complaint is only one side of the story, the exhibits attached to the complaint, which contain text messages between ...

By:  Barry Guryan and Jeff Ruzal

In a highly publicized March 23, 2010 decision, Awuah v. Coverall N. Am., Inc., 707 F.Supp.2d 80 (D. Mass. 2010), U.S. District Judge William Young for the District of Massachusetts rocked the Massachusetts business community by ruling that a group of janitorial franchisees were improperly classified as independent contractors, and that they were instead “employees” of commercial cleaning franchisor Coverall who are entitled to statutory protection under Massachusetts’ Wage laws including, among others, minimum wage, overtime pay, meal ...