Management Update
Volume 4, Issue 10
October 2015
 
Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors
 On September 7, 2015, President Obama signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to offer employees up to seven days of paid sick leave per year. The requirement will apply to new federal contracts beginning in 2017. It is estimated that 300,000 workers will receive paid sick leave because of this order. Under the order, workers on federal contracts will earn at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work, up to 7 days total. Their leave can be used to care for themselves and family members, and absences resulting from domestic violence or sexual assault. The Labor Department will issue a rule next year to implement the executive order. 
 
Increasing Number of FLSA Lawsuits 
When the fiscal year ended on September 30, 2015, Federal courts closed with the largest number of new FLSA cases, as showed in an analysis released on September 16, 2015 by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). For the second consecutive year, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida leads the nation's 94 district courts with18.3 per capita filings per one million residents. The Eastern District of Louisiana had the largest one-year per capita increase, jumping 300 percent. The District of Columbia had the largest decrease in filings, falling 22.2 percent. 
 
Justices Say Wal-Mart Cannot Fire Employees for Self-Defense
In a precedent setting 4-1 decision, the Utah Supreme Court said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. could face a wrongful termination lawsuit brought forward by five employees who were fired for failing to de-escalate and avoid confrontation when accused shoplifters pulled weapons on them. The court found that public policy favors the right of Utah citizens to defend themselves in dangerous situations, and outweighs the right of employers to fire workers at-will for whatever reason they choose. The majority opinion said that "[t]he law should not require employees to choose between keeping their jobs and protecting themselves or others from a serious, imminent threat of harm." The case involves two separate incidents and was filed by plaintiffs Shawn H. Ray, Gabriel M. Stewart, Lori Poulsen, Derek Holt and Eric Hunter. The first incident involved Holt and Hunter confronting a shoplifter who attempted to run away. When she tried to run away, Holt and Hunter grabbed her arms, and in the struggle, the shoplifter pulled out a pocket knife and threatened to stab them. A customer helped grab the knife while Holt and Hunter held on to her. The second incident involved Ray, Poulsen and Stewart who approached a man trying to steal a computer and brought him into the store's asset protection office. The man revealed he had a gun and the employees confiscated it. Wal-Mart fired the employees in both cases for failing to comply with its workplace violence policy requiring disengagement in violent situations. The federal court certified that the state public policy in Utah favoring self-defense trumps Wal-Mart's right to an at-will employment arrangement with its workers. 
 
Management Update Briefings

Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P. presents Management Update Briefings, a labor and employment law seminar at convenient locations across the state of Louisiana.
  
 
 

 




 
Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P. Labor & Employment Attorneys


[email protected] 

225.381.8020

  Rachael M. Coe
[email protected]
504.584.5469

 Leo C. Hamilton  

[email protected]

225.381.8056




           

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