Protecting Employers Since 1985

Outsourcing Administration of Employee Leaves of Absence to a Third-Party Vendor Did Not Insulate Dollar General Store from Responsibility to Rehire Returning Service Member under USERRA

By James B. Sherman / August 29, 2018

Administering employee leaves of absence is complicated. For employers of 50 or more employees there obviously are the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and D.O.L. regulations to deal with. Then there is the EEOC, which has interpreted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to require leaves of absence, or extending them under certain circumstances…

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NLRB General Counsel Issues Much Needed Guidance on Lawful Employee Handbook Provisions

By James B. Sherman / June 27, 2018

On June 6th newly appointed General Counsel to the National Labor Relations Board, Peter B. Robb, issued comprehensive new guidance on employee handbook provisions. The guidelines direct the Board’s Regional Directors throughout the country to reverse course from years of decisions issued by the Board majority appointed by then President Obama. Under the Obama Board…

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Recent Court Ruling On Equal Pay Suggests That Salary History Questions May Be Off Limits In Job Interviews

By James B. Sherman / April 13, 2018

Asking job applicants how much they make with their current employer, or what they’ve been paid in prior positions, are common questions in job interviews for many hiring employers. While questions on salary history generally are not per se unlawful – yet – they can land an employer in hot water. The legal theory against…

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Wessels Sherman’s 2017 Employer Empowerment Seminar in Minnesota is Another Big Success!

By James B. Sherman / May 4, 2017

Wessels Sherman’s Minnesota office hosted the firm’s annual labor and employment law seminar for employers, accountants, attorneys and other business professionals on April 28, 2017 at the beautiful Radisson Blu, Mall of America hotel. James Sherman, firm President/CEO and Founder/Managing Shareholder of our Minneapolis office, welcomed the room full of attendees who came from four…

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Minnesota Supreme Court holds that Employee Discharged for Lying on her Job Application was Ineligible for Unemployment Benefits due to “Misconduct”

By James B. Sherman / March 28, 2017

In Minnesota, as in most every state, terminated employees are not eligible for unemployment benefits if they are dismissed for misconduct. In 2003, the legislature amended the statute to define “employment misconduct” as “any intentional, negligent, or indifferent conduct, on the job or off the job that displays clearly: (1) a serious violation of the…

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Federal Court Bars Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry From Pursuing Claims for Sick Leave Benefits Against AT&T on Behalf of Union Employees Who Were Not Sick

By James B. Sherman / February 28, 2017

Minnesota statutes section 181.9413 permits employees to use “personal sick leave benefits” provided by their employers, for absences due to their child’s illness or injury. In essence, then, state law “rewrites” employer sick leave benefits which, not surprisingly, typically require that the employee must be sick to use the benefit. The statute permits employees to…

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Gender Identity Issues are Front and Center in 2017

By James B. Sherman / February 23, 2017

From President Trump’s Recent Executive Order and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Anticipated Decision this spring on Use of Public Bathrooms According to One’s Gender Identity, to a Case Pending in Minnesota Federal Court Involving Claims of Discrimination in Health Care under the Affordable Care Act and the Minnesota Human Rights Act On February 22nd, the…

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EEOC Prioritizes National Origin Discrimination in the Workplace

By James B. Sherman / January 30, 2017

It is likely pure coincidence that the EEOC issued its position on national origin discrimination within days of the November elections. The guidelines went into effect on November 21, 2016, modifying the EEOC’s previous position on national origin discrimination, issued 15 years ago. The current guidelines are consistent with the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP)…

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Latest Update on Court Proceedings over DOL’s Overtime Salary Regulations

By James B. Sherman / December 29, 2016

Thousands of employers affected by the US Department of Labor’s Minimum Salary Rule for Overtime Pay Exemptions have anxiously awaited the outcome of litigation that blocks the rule from going into effect as intended, on December 1, 2016. A Federal District court in Sherman, Texas ruled just before Thanksgiving that the DOL exceed its authority…

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Buckle Up Employers – the DOL Has Appealed the Texas Court’s Injunction That Blocked Its Controversial Overtime Regulations from Going into Effect as Planned, Making the Road Ahead Full of Uncertainty for Payroll Specialists and Employers

By James B. Sherman / December 2, 2016

When a federal court in Sherman, Texas issued a nation-wide injunction on November 22nd that blocked the Department of Labor’s new overtime regulation, thousands of employers across the country breathed a sigh of relief. The DOL’s new rule was to have gone into effect on December 1st and would have more than doubled the minimum…

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