Employment
Beware of Work-for-Hire Nuances
The term “work-for-hire” is often loosely used to refer to an agreement with an author, musician, or other independent contractor to create a copyrighted work. “Work-for-hire” agreements are routinely entered for the purpose of vesting ownership of the work with the party paying for the work. The term “work-for-hire” has a precise meaning under the […]
COVID-19: Family and Medical Leave Legislation
On Wednesday, March 18th, the President signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCR). The FFCR applies to all employers with 500 or fewer employees and contains three primary sections related to employers: Emergency Family and Medical Leave Act Expansion; Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act; and Tax Credits for Paid Sick and Paid […]
Illinois Employment Law for 2020
2019 was a busy year for the Illinois legislature with respect to state employment law changes. Below is a summary of the most important pieces of legislation affecting employers in 2020: Amendments to the Equal Pay Act of 2003 Made effective on September 29, 2019, the intent of the legislation is to address pay disparity […]
New Proposed Fair Labor Standards Act Overtime Rules
The Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its proposed rules for overtime eligibility. As some may recall, the DOL attempted to issue new overtime rules back in 2015, but those overtime rules were enjoined by a federal district court in 2016. Below is a summary of the final 2019 overtime rules:
Nonprofits and Taxable Parking Expenses
Navigating the Possibility of Incurring UBTI UPDATE: The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019 retroactively repealed the tax on employee parking benefits for nonprofit employers by striking paragraph 512(a)(7) from the Internal Revenue Code. An organization that paid the tax may be eligible for a refund. To claim a refund, the organization […]
Law Suit Shows the Danger of Disregarded Employment Law
President Trump Sued for Unpaid Overtime In July 2018, President Donald Trump learned the danger of disregarding employment law when he was sued by his long-time, personal chauffeur for unpaid overtime. In this case, Trump did not abide by state and federal wage and hour rules. Reportedly, chauffeur Noel Cintron was “forced to work thousands […]
“Mark of the Beast”: Fourth Circuit Upholds Judgment That Employer Failed to Accommodate Employee’s Religious Beliefs
A recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling highlights an employer’s mistakes when refusing an employee’s request for a religious accommodation. The case, EEOC v. Consol Energy, Inc., upheld the lower court’s judgment against Consol that it failed to accommodate an employee’s religious objection to participate in the employer’s mandated biometric hand scanner system. The […]
Update: U.S. Department of Labor Withdraws Guidance on Independent Contractors and Joint Employment
On June 7, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it was withdrawing the Obama-era DOL 2015 and 2016 informal guidance memorandums on independent contractors and joint employment also referred to as joint employer. These memorandums were “Administrator’s Interpretations” meant to provide guidance as to how the law and related regulations with respect […]
Nonprofits and Executive Compensation
Nonprofit organizations are often surprised that their executive compensation practices can be subjected to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scrutiny. Executive compensation is more than an executive’s salary, compensation includes an executive’s retirement plan, any deferred compensation, and other fringe benefits. Over the past several years, the IRS has increasingly investigated the executive compensation practices of […]
Federal Emergency Motion Blocks Enforcement of FLSA’s New Overtime Rules
On November 22, 2016, the Federal Eastern District Court of Texas granted an emergency motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the Department of Labor (DOL) from enforcing the new Federal Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime rules set to take effect on December 1, 2016. Since the district court ruling enjoined the implementation of the […]