United States: Employer Error In Advising Employee Of Eligibility For FMLA Leave Can Have Enduring Consequences

The Family and Medical Leave Act does not require all employers to grant leave to all employees. One condition for eligibility requires an employee to work at, or within 75 miles of, a site at which the employer employs at least 50 employees. And while it is unlawful for an employer to interfere with or retaliate against an employee for the exercise of FMLA rights, an employee who is ineligible for FMLA leave logically […]

By | January 28th, 2015 ||

United States: Ringing In The New Year With Four Ban-The-Box Laws

With the start of 2015, new ban-the-box laws became effective in Illinois, the City of Chicago, and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland. Ban-the-box laws prohibit questions about an applicant’s criminal background on employment applications and often include additional restrictions on inquiries by employers into criminal history.

Illinois’s Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, which became effective on January 1, prohibits covered employers from inquiring into the criminal history of an applicant until after […]

By | January 27th, 2015 ||

Canada: Employer Who Voluntarily Complied With MOL Inspector’s Orders Was Not Entitled To Suspension Of Orders Pending Appeal

The Ontario Labour Relations Board has held that where an employer had complied with a Ministry of Labour inspector’s compliance orders under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, to the satisfaction of the MOL, the operation of the orders should not be suspended while the employer appeals the orders.

Employers sometimes appeal MOL inspectors’ orders after an accident, in the hopes of obtaining a decision from the OLRB that the employer did not commit any […]

By | January 27th, 2015 ||