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Please Click HerePosted on July 13, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Collegiality in the workplace is the goal of every employer in order to provide the proper atmosphere for productive employees. Many employers have taken this desire to heart by publishing rules that encourage collegiality amongst employees and prohibit conduct that would adversely affect morale in the workplace. A recent ruling by the National Labor Relations […]
Posted on June 30, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
On May 31, 2016, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc. holding that approved judicial determinations as to the presence of wetlands issued by the Corps of Engineers constitute “final agency action,” which allows property owners to seek judicial review. As a result […]
Posted on June 29, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
A recent decision in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has highlighted another problem with determining the rate of pay for paying overtime hours worked by non-exempt employees. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees are required to be paid time and one-half their regular rate of pay when they work more than 40 hours […]
Posted on June 29, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Recent action by the National Labor Relations Board has challenged a long-standing labor precedent that may directly affect Wisconsin companies because of the implementation of the Wisconsin Right-to-Work Law. Because of the Right-to-Work Law, many companies with union representation of its employees are learning the employees no longer support the union and are withdrawing the […]
Posted 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 In an unpublished opinion issued by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on June 21, 2016, the appellate court found that LIRC impermissibly read into a statute an […]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 […]