Earlier this month, San Francisco amended its Fair Chance Ordinance, the city and county’s so-called ban-the-box legislation that limits how private employers can use an applicant’s criminal history in employment decisions. The amendments, which take effect on October 1, 2018, expand the scope and penalties of the San Francisco ordinance and add to the growing framework of ban-the-box legislation across California.
Continue Reading San Francisco Sharpens the Teeth of Its “Ban-the-Box” Ordinance

In June, new laws will go into effect that restrict employers’ ability to request and use criminal history information about applicants in three jurisdictions: Kansas City, Missouri; the State of Washington; and the city of Spokane, Washington. Continue reading for summaries of the new restrictions and links to the laws.
Continue Reading June Will Bring New Ban-the-Box and Fair Chance Laws

Employers in the retail sector are constantly faced with the balancing act of relying on their workforce to operate a profitable business while also managing employees who are unable to work at full capacity due to an illness or disability. The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently issued an opinion shedding some light on when leave constitutes reasonable accommodation under the ADA.
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Rejects Extended Leave as Reasonable Accommodation Under ADA

In an important decision, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an employer’s liability exclusion does not preclude coverage for claims brought by an employee of one insured against another insured. In a recent article in Lodging Magazine, Hunton & Williams LLP’s insurance coverage lawyers discuss the significance of the Second Circuit’s ruling.
Continue Reading Insurance Coverage for Employee Claims

San Francisco is the latest jurisdiction to pass a law that prohibits employers from inquiring about prior salary history during hiring. New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New Orleans already have similar laws, and in a concerning trend for employers, 26 states are currently considering such legislation.

The San Francisco city ordinance went into effect on July 1, 2017, and restricts employers from (1) considering an applicant’s salary history in determining whether to make an offer of employment or the amount of salary to offer; (2) inquiring about salary history; (3) retaliating against an applicant that declines to provide salary history; and (4) releasing a current or former employee’s salary history to a prospective employer without written authorization. Notably, the restrictions in the San Francisco ordinance, like similar laws in New York City and New Orleans, prohibit an employer from conducting a search of publicly available records to obtain salary history information.Continue Reading San Francisco Bans Employers From Asking Job Applicants About Salary History, 26 States Considering Similar Legislation

A recent decision by an administrative law judge concerning the policies in the employee handbook of a nonunion real estate management company, takes an expansive view of what constitutes “concerted activity” under the NLRA and which employer policies could be interpreted to obstruct employees’ right to engage in concerted activity.
Continue Reading ALJ Says Company’s Neutral Reference and Press Inquiry Policies Violate NLRA

On March 6, 2017, an administrative law judge found that a nonunion automotive manufacturing facility in Alabama violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act when it terminated three employees who walked off the job over a holiday-season scheduling dispute.
Continue Reading Another Step in the NLRB’s Mission to Expand Definition of “Concerted Activity” under the NLRA