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Bills introduced in the 2021 regular session would require employers to make accommodations for breast-feeding and/or pregnant women. Federal law already addresses making those accommodations. SB100 by Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, would require all employers to make reasonable efforts to…
By Whitney R. Brown, Esq. COVID-19’s arrival in March 2020 spurred Congress to enact paid leave programs on a scale previously unthinkable: Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL), which provided 80 hours of paid leave, and Emergency FMLA (EFMLA), which provided…
By Richard I. Lehr Esq. Under a U.S. Labor Department rule, managers or professionals who earn less than $35,568 a year – $684 a week – will be eligible for overtime pay starting Jan. 1. The rule increases the salary-level threshold for white-collar exemptions by…
By Richard I. Lehr Esq. Retaliation is the No. 1 employment claim filed throughout the United States. That is, an employee engages in what he or she believes is a protected activity, and the employer responds with adverse treatment, therefore the…
Did you know Alabama Retail Association members have access to free telephone or e-mail consultation with a team of the state’s top labor law attorneys? Your association partners with the Birmingham law firm of Lehr Middlebrooks Vreeland & Thompson, P.C.,…
Answers provided by employment law expert Richard I. Lehr, Esq. Can an employer limit what an employee can post on social media? Yes. Employers may prohibit employees from posting confidential business information, including information about customers, products, pricing, marketing, business strategies…
What behaviors constitute bullying or harassment in the workplace? “Bullying is often interspersed when the term harassment is used, but bullying in the workplace has its origins in what happened in the classic school yard bullying. So, for example, behavior that is…
By Richard I. Lehr, Esq. Not only must a retail employer be sure that employees understand what behaviors from each other may result in harassment or bullying, but also what should be done if employees are harassed or bullied by…
What is an employer required to provide an employee after pregnancy? “For covered employers and eligible employees, parental or bonding leave is FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) covered. Employers do not have to provide parental or bonding leave in incremental blocks or part-time blocks. Employees…
What three laws impact employers during the pregnancy of an employee? “Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which applies to employers with 15 of more employees in the current or previous calendar year, employees who are pregnant may not be forced…