New England Biz Law Update

A June decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could make it easier for workers to be classified as employees rather than independent contractors. The board’s ruling in Atlanta Opera, Inc. and Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Union, Local ...

The percentage of American employees testing positive for marijuana following a workplace accident has reached its highest level in 25 years, according to a new report from Quest Diagnostics. Researchers reviewed the results of more than 10.6 million samples taken ...

The National Labor Relations Board has issued a memorandum asserting that noncompete agreements generally violate a worker’s right to engage in collective action to improve their working conditions, as protected under the National Labor Relations Act. The memorandum, promulgated on ...

The U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, has held that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) does not prevent a company from filing a lawsuit in state court alleging intentional destruction of property by a union during a labor ...

Breastfeeding employees have the right to pump milk at work, as protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). An FLSA amendment in 2010 was the first to include break time and space requirements for pumping. On December 29, 2022, ...

A new court case offers a reminder to employers that it may not be so easy to get out from under employee-friendly provisions, even if their employees are far from the state in question. In Wilson v. Recorded Future, Inc., ...

As the summer intern season begins, many employers are wondering: Do I have to offer our 401(k) plan to these temporary employees? Generally, the answer is no — as long as you set your policy up appropriately. An employee must ...

An employer’s arbitration agreement was unenforceable because of unconscionable terms in a confidentiality agreement that was executed simultaneously during employee onboarding, the California Court of Appeal has decided. In effect, one bad agreement invalidated them all. In the case of ...

In May, the Department of Labor issued an opinion letter, clarifying guidance around managing holiday hours with an employee’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitlement. The letter serves to reinforce established interpretations, namely: When a holiday falls during a ...

A federal appeals court has ruled that employee misclassification claims brought by “distributors” who delivered goods from a bakery company to their retailers were not subject to mandatory arbitration. Defendant Flowers Foods, Inc., which owns subsidiary bakeries in multiple states, ...