Volume 5, Issue 2
February 2016
Obama's New Reporting Requirement Seeks Pay Equity 

President Obama is planning to use his executive power to require companies to report employee pay based on race, gender and ethnicity. The plan, supposedly intended to encourage "equal pay for equal work," will give the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) additional authority to target companies based on their pay practices. The information would be included on a form that companies already file listing the race, sex and job groups of their employees. This requirement would expand a prior executive order that required federal contractors to publish such information and would apply to companies with 100 or more employees. The proposed regulation will be published by the EEOC and the Department of Labor. 
Employers, Watch Out: ACA-Related Retaliation Claims Are Coming

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, employers have grappled with the law's web of rules and requirements. By now, most are familiar with the Act's "play or pay" mandate, which requires certain employers to offer minimum essential coverage that is affordable and provides minimum value to a sufficient number of full-time employees (and their dependents) or pay penalties. However, many employers are not as familiar with the Act's related whistleblower protections-an additional source of risk for the unwary. The full article by E. Fredrick Preis, Jr. and Rachael Jeanfreau can be found  here.
Triple Play Status Update: Firings For Employees' Facebook Activity Unlawful

On October 21, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a 2014 decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overturning the terminations of two employees who had complained about their employer on Facebook. As we previously reported, the NLRB concluded that the terminations violated the employees' Section 7 rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), because their Facebook activity was legally protected. In a Facebook status, one employee complained about Triple Play's failure to properly withhold payroll taxes, and a co-worker "liked" the post.The full article by  E. Fredrick Preis, Jr. and Rachael Jeanfreau can be found here.


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


john.andrishok@bswllp.com 

225.381.8020
  Rachael M. Coe
rachael.coe@bswllp.com
504.584.5469

 Leo C. Hamilton  

leo.hamilton@bswllp.com

225.381.8056



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