Protecting Employers Since 1985
Our firm’s practice area is management-side labor and employment law. I focus my practice on the labor law side of things and that pretty much means dealing on behalf of employers with labor unions. Disputes in this area are in the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Construction industry labor law is…
Read MoreIn the aftermath of the protests and civil unrest of 2021, more and more businesses embraced what has come to be known as “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” or DEI. Today, most people have at least some general understanding of what DEI is about. For many businesses DEI represents a commitment to promote diversity and equitable…
Read MoreLast week it was announced that UPS and the Teamsters had agreed to a tentative 5-year union contract that would avert a strike, most likely starting August 1, 2023. The Teamsters represent approximately 340,000 UPS workers, which is the world’s largest package delivery firm. If a strike was not averted, it was estimated that that…
Read MoreThe Supreme Court’s recent decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis has caused quite a stir. Boiled down to its simplest form, the Court essentially ruled that a Colorado web designer could not be forced to “speak” by creating a webpage about a subject the owner found objectionable. Had the designer refused to design a…
Read MoreNew Iowa child labor laws A new law has just taken effect in Iowa relating to child labor laws. The new law allows kids ages 14 and 15 to be able to work until 11:00 PM during the summer. That’s two hours longer than previously allowed. They’ll be able to work until 9:00 PM during…
Read MoreAs the 2023 term of the SCOTUS comes to an end, the Court has today and yesterday issued several highly significant, precedential decisions that likely pose big changes in many aspects of Americans’ lives in the future. Among them: 1. Biden v. Nebraska – Writing for the majority, Justice John Roberts Jr. struck down the Biden…
Read MoreBackground: On June 16, 2023, House Bill 2862 was sent to Governor Pritzker for signature. This legislation will amend the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act to expand the pay and benefit rights of the temporary workers as well as increased safety oversight by both the agencies and the third-party business that use such…
Read MoreIn a decision issued in mid-June, the pro-union NLRB made it tougher for employers to demonstrate that their workers are independent contractors. Independent contractors are not covered by the National Labor Relations Act and thus do not have organizing rights. The decision is The Atlanta Opera, Inc. and the Board went back to the traditional…
Read MoreThe case is Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Co. The plaintiff is an evangelical Christian high school orchestra teacher in Indiana who lost his job for refusing to use a transgender student’s preferred pronoun. Kluge objected for religious reasons. According to court pleadings, initially, he worked out an agreement with the school to simply refer…
Read MoreThe Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor just published a bulletin to provide its field staff with detailed guidance for enforcing amendments to the FLSA via the PUMP Act that was signed into law on December 29, 2022. This law requires that employers provide nursing employees with reasonable break time and…
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