By: Laurie E. Meyer On Tuesday, September 24, 2019, the Department of Labor published its Final Rule in connection with the so-called “white collar” overtime exemptions. The Final Rule, which goes into effect on January 1, 2020, raises the salary threshold for these overtime exemptions from $455 per week to $684 per week (equivalent to $35,568...
By: Elizabeth K. Miles Protective orders are used in litigation to protect a party’s propriety or confidential information from being disclosed to the public. Often, parties agree on the terms of the order and submit a stipulated protective order for entry by the court. It is unlikely that you or your opponent prepare a new protective order each...
Wisconsin has some unique qualities discovered by newcomers, among them cheese curds, booyah and supper clubs. New employers in Wisconsin, or those operated by national or international entities, may also encounter provisions of Wisconsin employment law that go beyond or differ from federal law. This article will highlight some of those areas....
By: Abby S. Busler and Laurie E. Meyer Recently, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter addressing whether an employee may take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to attend a meeting to discuss the Individualized Education Program (IEP) of the employee’s child. In the situation posed to the DOL, an...
By: Abby S. Busler Do your employees commute to and from work in company owned vehicles? Are your employees compensated for their travel time? Should employees’ commute times ever be considered paid work hours? These questions were answered in a recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision, clarifying employee commute and compensation practices. As...
The federal government has now finalized its rule allowing pre-dispute arbitration agreements in nursing homes. The final rule, announced July 16, abandons an Obama-era rule that would have banned pre-dispute arbitration agreements but never went into effect. Some restrictions are imposed under the final rule. In October 2016 the U.S. Centers for...
By: Davis|Kuelthau's Labor and Employment Team On April 19, 2019, the IRS released new procedures for correcting qualified retirement plan errors under its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). In particular, Revenue Procedure 2019-19 expanded the types of mistakes that can be corrected by a plan sponsor on its own, thereby...
By: Erin E. Kaprelian On June 24, 2019, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Iancu v. Brunetti, addressing whether, in light of its previous holding in Matal v. Tam, the Lanham (Trademark) Act’s prohibition on registration of “immoral” and “scandalous” trademarks represents a violation of the First Amendment. Six justices joined the...
By: James M. Kalny On June 12, 2019, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in the case of Richardson v. Chicago Transit Authority holding among other things, that obesity is not an impairment under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) absent the showing of an underlying physiological cause. As 32% of adults in Wisconsin are...
By: Laurie E. Meyer and Abby S. Busler A couple common scenarios: Your longtime employee, Karen, tells you that she wants to take leave to care for her sick husband—leave that would certainly constitute “qualifying leave” under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) as you are a “covered” employer under the FMLA and Karen is eligible for the...
