DOL Issues New Federal FMLA Poster

Recently, Governor Mills signed into law LD 598, An Act to Prohibit Discrimination in Employment and School Based on Hair Texture or Hairstyle.  The bill amends the public accommodation definition section of the Maine Human Rights Act to add “protective hairstyle”, defined as including braids, twists and locks.   The Act further amends the definition section…

The First Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in December, 2014, that offers important guidance for employers and employees concerning the obligations of both parties during the “interactive process” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The ADA protects disabled employees from discrimination on account of their disabilities and may require employers to implement…

BY: Anne-Marie Storey There are many ways employers can be environmentally innovative in workplace practices, but they must do so cautiously with regard to HR practices. 1. Paychecks Many employers encourage payment through direct deposit. However, studies show that an increasing numberof employees, many from minority groups with federal employment protections, donot have bank accounts. Thus,…

  By Anne-Marie L. Storey, Esq. The National Labor Relations Board has struck again, finding several handbook policies in a non-union employer’s handbook were invalid because they could be construed by employees as prohibiting protected concerted activities.   Two of the sections at issue prohibited employees from making “negative comments about [their] fellow team members” and…

As you know, the FFCRA provided qualifying employees with two different forms of leave. The first included paid sick leave in two different categories: Up to 80 hours of paid sick leave at the employee’s regular rate where an employee cannot work because of quarantine or they experienced COVID-related symptoms and sought a medical diagnosis….