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Please Click HerePosted on January 23, 2009 by Ruder Ware Alumni
The Senate approved a bill today, Thursday, January 22, that will make it easier for workers to sue their employers and former employers for pay discrimination. It will likely be the first legislation that President Barack Obama signs into law. The bill overturns a 2007 Supreme Court decision that many believe resulted in workplace injustice. […]
Posted on December 12, 2008 by Ruder Ware Alumni
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has released the final revised, and long awaited, regulations implementing the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The revised regulations are over 750 pages in length and adopt most of the positions the DOL outlined in the proposed revisions to the regulations issued in February 2008. A […]
Posted on November 19, 2008 by Ruder Ware Alumni
At both the state and federal level, the recent election resulted in both the executive and legislative branches being controlled by the Democrats. As a result, many are predicting a major change in the nations labor and employment laws. As a result, several pieces of legislation that were unable to gain traction in the past […]
Posted on November 14, 2008 by Ruder Ware Alumni
The Department of Labor has been in the process of revising the regulations implementing the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. The Department of Labor will be formally issuing the final revised regulations on Monday, November 17, 2008, by publishing them in the Federal Register. We have obtained a copy of the revised […]
Posted on November 11, 2008 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Now that we know Barack Obama will be our next president, there is a very good chance that some version of the Employee Free Choice Act of 2007 will become law early next year. This legislation will radically change the way unions organize workers in the United States. Even more important is that the legislation […]
Posted on October 7, 2008 by Ruder Ware Alumni
As a reminder, the federal government has updated the required W-4 form for 2009. All employers are required to have the most recent version of the W-4 available for employees. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security recently update the mandatory I-9 form. The updated form must completed for all new employees. Certain businesses are […]
Posted on September 28, 2008 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Congress previously gave approval to a major civil rights bill expanding protections for people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The bill proposed sweeping amendments to the ADA in a number of aspects to overturn several recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions. President Bush signed the proposed ADA amendments into law on September […]
Posted on April 15, 2008 by Mary Ellen Schill
The United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Wisconsin, recently addressed a case in which an employee whose spouse had high medical costs claimed, among other things, that she was terminated because of these costs. Dewitt v. Proctor 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 4157 (7th Cir. 2008). The employer claimed that the employee was […]
Posted on February 29, 2008 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Senate Bill 404 and Assembly Bill 712 were recently introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature. They are not yet law but proposed laws. They target Wisconsin employers employing illegal aliens. The proposed legislation addresses “no match” letter issues (i.e., notification that an employee’s name does not match with the social security number given). The proposed legislation […]
Posted on February 26, 2008 by Ruder Ware Alumni
We wish to alert you to the following pending Wisconsin legislation. I. BACKGROUND. A federal law, Title VII of the U.S. Code (Title VII), permits discrimination claims to be brought in federal court. Under Title VII, punitive damages can be awarded against an employer in some circumstances. Small Wisconsin employers (under 15 employees) are not […]