By Ryan Allen Hancock The Pennsylvania Supreme Court soon will decide whether mandatory screenings before or after a work shift are compensable under Pennsylvania law, in a case called Heimbach v. Amazon.com, Inc. and Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards ...
COVID-19 Vaccines at Work: Can My Employer Mandate?
By Jessica C. Caggiano, Esq. The long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine is finally here, and the population is reacting in a variety of ways. Some people are desperate to move ahead in the line of prioritization and get their vaccination, while others are unwilling or reticent about being among the first ...
Navigating COVID-19: Travel and the Workplace During a Pandemic
By Jessica C. Caggiano, Esq. You are all packed up and ready for your “masked” Disney World vacation. You paid thousands of dollars in mostly non-refundable travel, hotel, and park access expenses long before anyone had ever heard of “social distancing.” You even purchased a cute pair of mouse ...
Ninth Circuit Issues Win for Amazon Delivery Drivers
By Ryan A. Hancock, Esq. A recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upholds the right of Amazon delivery drivers to bring employment claims in court, rejecting Amazon.com’s argument that such claims must be decided through private arbitration. The Ninth Circuit joined ...
Supreme Court Issues Employee Benefits Decisions in the 2019-2020 Term
The U.S. Supreme Court issued four important decisions affecting employee benefits in the term it recently completed. Here is a brief summary of these cases and our preliminary views on their longer-term implications. Bostock v. Clayton County is the most significant of the four opinions. In a ...
The Supreme Court Weighs In on Discrimination Based on LGBTQ Status
By: Lauren M. Hoye Employees and plaintiffs’-side employment lawyers were pleasantly surprised in June 2020 when the United States Supreme Court held that an employer who fires an individual merely for being LGBTQ violates federal law, specifically Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The ...
Philadelphia City Council Passes Novel Anti-Retaliation Protections Amid COVID-19
By Jordan Konell On June 25, Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed its “Essential Workers Protection Act,” which will guarantee protection for workers who voice concerns about workplace conditions that violate COVID-19 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or City of Philadelphia public health ...
NLRB Forges Ahead with New Election Rules Despite Court Order
By Joseph D. Richardson On May 30, 2020, in response to a lawsuit filed by the AFL-CIO, a federal district court in Washington, D.C. threw out several provisions of the National Labor Relations Board’s new election rules, which were announced in December of 2019 and were scheduled to go into ...
Pennsylvania Unemployment Insurance for Employees Working Short-Time
INTRODUCTION In the wake of legislation adopted to provide economic security to individuals impacted by COVID-19, many union workers have seen their work eliminated or diminished. For workers who are laid off or furloughed, Unemployment Insurance is a benefit to which they may be entitled ...
Pennsylvania Passes COVID-19 Benefits for Police Officers, Firefighters and Correctional Officers
By Richard G. Poulson On April 21, 2020 the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed legislation that provides occupational benefits to certain workers who contract COVID-19 on the job. House Bill 1869 specifies that police officers, firefighters and other workers covered under the Enforcement ...