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Joel S. Barras

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On January 23, 2017, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed the Philadelphia Wage Equity Ordinance into law. The bill amends the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance to prohibit employers from asking about an applicant’s wage history at any point during the hiring process. Philadelphia City Council unanimously voted in favor of the legislation in December 2016.

Introduced by Councilman-at-large William Greenlee, the Wage Equity Law is intended to reduce wage inequality, particularly among minorities and women. Companies often use a new hire’s prior salary as a baseline for setting the employee’s new compensation. By prohibiting companies from asking prospective employees how much they earned at their last jobs, the bill seeks to prevent unequal wages and salaries from following employees through their entire careers.

In addition to prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about their wage history, the ordinance prohibits employers from:
Continue Reading Philadelphia Employers Barred from Asking about Wage History

This installment of our ongoing series prognosticating about the new Presidential administration focuses on the regulatory environment employers may face. President-elect Trump has promised to revoke a number of the more employee-friendly measures that the Obama Administration has passed over the previous eight years.  Additionally, Ivanka Trump, who was influential throughout her father’s campaign, has reiterated her intention to fight for equal pay for women and family leave policies. 
Continue Reading What Employers May Expect with Trump in Office

A Texas federal court judge has issued a preliminary nationwide injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing the controversial overtime rule set to take effect December 1. The rule would have more than doubled the weekly salary threshold for the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s so-called “white collar” exemptions, from $455/week to…

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump voiced many opinions about his priorities and goals for the country. Yet as President-elect Trump prepares to take office in January, employers remain uncertain as to what the American workplace will look like under a Trump administration. As a lead-up to the presidential inauguration, we will provide a series of posts looking at five areas critical to employers and prognosticating as to how the new administration will impact these areas.
Continue Reading Employing Workers in a Trump Administration

With summer 2016 almost behind us, employers should begin to plan for the major labor and employment law trends expected to emerge in the last quarter of the year and into 2017. In the first part of this two-part series, we looked at some of the principal trends likely to be shaped by federal regulators. …

With summer 2016 almost behind us, employers should begin to plan for the major labor and employment law trends expected to emerge in the final quarter of the year and into 2017. In the first part of this two-part series, we will take a look at some of the principal trends likely to be shaped by federal regulators.

  • Wage & Hour Class Actions Will Remain Hot. On December 1, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) changes to the salary threshold for exempt employees will increase the number of workers eligible for minimum wage and overtime payments. Specifically, the salary threshold for exempt executive, administrative, and professional employees will increase to $47,476 per year (or $913/week), meaning that salaried employees earning less than this amount, regardless of job duties, must be compensated for overtime work. This will undoubtedly result in an increase in wage and hour class actions in the coming years.

In addition, the DOL and other administrative agencies, as well as the plaintiffs’ bar, remain intently focused on independent contractor misclassification, especially following the DOL’s July 2015 guidance proclaiming that most U.S. workers should be classified as employees. Bring-your-own-device policies will also continue to lead to claims of unpaid overtime work.

Continue Reading Emerging Labor & Employment Law Trends (Part 1)

Effective January 1, 2018, Massachusetts’ equal pay law will impose new and broad sweeping requirements on employers. At its core, the law prohibits gender-based pay disparities. It also takes steps to encourage transparency regarding compensation among employees, and to reduce the emphasis on compensation inquiries during the hiring process. The recently enacted amendments are designed…

This next installment of our ongoing series takes a closer look into the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues. Last week, we discussed the EEOC’s changing views regarding the elements of a retaliation claim. This week, we delve deeper into the EEOC’s proposed guidance, exploring the agency’s attempt to expand the so-called “participation clause,” and to broaden the definition of protected opposition conduct. We will also examine what, in the EEOC’s employee-friendly estimation, constitutes an adverse employment action in the retaliation context.

Expansion of “Participation Activity”

Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the EEOC’s proposed guidance is the agency’s expansive interpretation of “participation activity.” As discussed last week, in order to prove a claim of retaliation, a plaintiff must first show that (s)he engaged in a “protected activity.” Protected activity, in turn, consists of either “opposition activity” or “participation activity.”
Continue Reading EEOC Guidance on Retaliation: An Unprecedented Interpretation of Federal EEO Law

The past few weeks have brought us a flurry of activity from federal agencies poised to re-shape the employment landscape, from upending traditional notions of the employment relationship to re-defining what it means to engage in unlawful retaliation. Now, as the dust settles, we will take a look at each of these administrative actions in this four-part series.

In this first installment, we discuss an Administrator’s Interpretation (Interpretation) issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) concerning joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The Interpretation is perhaps most impactful for companies that rely on third-party contractors, such as staffing agencies, to regularly provide services outside of the companies’ core businesses. According to the DOL, such companies are likely no longer shielded from employment-related liability merely by their use of third-party contractors, but instead are joint employers liable for workplace violations as if they were the primary employer.
Continue Reading DOL Issues New Guidelines on Joint Employment

Issuing yet another blow to commonly promulgated workplace rules, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) struck down a Whole Foods Market policy prohibiting employees from recording conversations, meetings, phone calls and other activities at work.  [Whole Foods Market, Inc., 2015 BL 424627, 363 N.L.R.B. No. 87 (Dec. 24, 2015)].  Despite Whole Foods’ explanation that the policy was specifically designed to “encourage open communication, free exchange of ideas, spontaneous and honest dialogue and an atmosphere of trust,” and “to eliminate a chilling effect on the expression of views . . . especially when sensitive or confidential matters are being discussed,” the NLRB found that the policy could have a chilling effect on an employee’s section 7 rights. 
Continue Reading Recent NLRB Work Rule Decision Strikes Down Another Commonly Promulgated Policy