The Rocky Mountain Employer

In its June 30, 2017, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals filing, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) provided its first indications of how the new Administration intends to alter the landscape of mandatory overtime rules. Picking up where the Obama Administration’s May 2016 Final Rule was left, currently under appeal after a November 2016 preliminary injunction blocked its enforcement, the DOL indicated it wants more workers to be eligible for overtime pay, just not as many as the Obama Administration.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided a few employment-related cases during its 2016 term addressing the appropriate standards for reviewing EEOC issued subpoenas and preventing forum shopping by employees wanting to sue their employers.

President Trump has the opportunity to fill vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”), creating an employer-friendly and Republican majority. He will also be able to appoint new general counsel of NLRB in November 2017. No new board members have been appointed, although reports have circulated that he is narrowing in on potential appointees. It is suspected that his final appointments to these positions will occur by the end of the year.   

Whistleblower claims continue to increase, and employers across the country are becoming more and more likely to run into such a claim.  Damage awards for whistleblower claims often range into the millions of dollars.  Given the severity and potential crippling impact on the company such claims have, employees who “blow the whistle” and report the alleged misconduct may experience various forms of adverse action—both from management and their co-workers.  As a result, most whistleblower statutes[1] protect whistleblowers from retaliation. This article addresses best practices to manage whistleblower employees and avoid retaliation claims and additional liability.

VCG Holding Corp., a company that owns strip clubs across the country was sued by more than 500 adult dancers for various violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and Colorado Labor Code stemming from their misclassification as independent contractors.  This case is one of many lawsuits in the last several years targeting strip club owners and other businesses, and forcing many businesses to reevaluate how they classify and compensate their workers. 

Amid uncertainty regarding the lawfulness of class-action waivers in employment arbitration agreements, a U.S. District Court has held that such waivers are not unlawful as applied to supervisory employees.[1]

In his February 28, 2017 Congressional address, President Donald Trump urged Congress to consider a paid family leave bill. Democrats and Republicans have introduced bills in the United States Senate (the “Senate Bills”) addressing paid family leave, but the Senate Bills affect employers in significantly different ways.[1]  This article analyzes the Senate Bills and their potential impact on employers across the country.