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Please Click HerePosted on June 27, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Circuit courts and appellate courts commonly apply “great weight deference” to worker’s compensation benefit determinations made by the Labor and Industry Review Commission (“LIRC”), but not this time. In an unpublished opinion issued by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on June 21, 2016, the appellate court found that LIRC impermissibly read into a statute an […]
Posted on June 23, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Some may have forgotten that on April 1, 2016, Governor Walker signed a new law providing qualifying employees with the right to take up to 6 weeks of unpaid leave from work in a 12-month period, to serve as bone marrow and organ donors. The new law, 2015 Wisconsin Act 345, becomes effective on July […]
Posted on June 2, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
It is well settled that once a union exercises its weapon to engage in an economic strike, an employer is empowered to continue its business operations through hiring of permanent strike-replacement employees. Whether a strike-replacement employee is “permanent” for the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act involves a fairly technical analysis, and includes the […]
Posted on May 17, 2016 by Sara J. Ackermann
Today the Department of Labor (DOL) announced its long-awaited rule expanding overtime protection for employees. The rule will go into effect December 1, 2016. Highlights include: Raising the salary threshold from $23,660 to $47,476 a year, or from $455 to $913 a week. Note: This is lower than the originally proposed $50,440, however, the rule […]
Posted on May 11, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
There has been a great deal of media coverage regarding how to accommodate a transgender employees’ use of bathrooms. Logic suggests that maintaining private bathrooms that would be available to any employee would be the most reasonable way to address this situation in the workplace. A 2015 decision in a case brought by the Equal […]
Posted on May 9, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Last week, an administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board concluded that Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino’s (“Rio”) employee handbook policy addressing “Use of Company Systems, Equipment, and Resources,” violated the National Labor Relations Act. The case is Ceasars Entertainment Corporation, No. 28-CA-060841. In Ceasars, the Board ALJ was called upon to review […]
Posted on May 2, 2016 by Mary Ellen Schill
Late last week the IRS announced its adjustments to the health savings account limits for 2017. These limits are adjusted annually by the IRS for “cost of living.” Since the IRS rules for cost of living adjustments provide that adjustments are only made in $50 increments, and even then only if rounding to the nearest […]
Posted on April 25, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
“Substantial fault” is a new concept that may determine whether a terminated employee is eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. In 2013 the Wisconsin Legislature amended the unemployment insurance eligibility statute to create “substantial fault” as a basis to deny benefits; the new law took effect on January 5, 2014. On April 14, 2016, the Wisconsin […]
Posted on April 14, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
A recent decision from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals addressed whether obesity automatically qualifies as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In a decision filed by an applicant for employment who was ultimately denied employment because of his severe weight and body mass index, the Court of Appeals held that obesity (in […]
Posted on April 13, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
I have written a number of blogs regarding the position of the National Labor Relations Board relating to protected speech for employees. The NLRB and its General Counsel have been very aggressive in concluding that the conduct of employees should be considered protected free speech and an employee may not be terminated for such conduct. […]