Feed: Virginia Workplace Law - AggScore: 50.0

How Will You Welcome Home Our Veterans?

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On May 1, 2012, President Barack Obama made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan during which he and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed the Strategic Partnership Agreement. The Agreement spells out the plan for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan over the coming years. While this is terrific news for our military members and their [...]

Criminal Background Checks Can Backfire

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Criminal background checks have always been somewhat of a controversial tool for hiring decisions. The EEOC has previously issued several guidance statements calling into question employment policies that exclude any job candidate with a criminal record. On April 25, the EEOC issued a further guidance document on this subject. We have discussed some concerns about [...]

To Post or Not to Post: NLRB Posting Delayed

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Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a temporary injunction against the National Labor Relations Board’s enforcement of its new rule requiring private employers to post a notice to employees informing them of their rights under the National Relations Act.  The court did not invalidate the rule, it just held [...]

Two New Employer Requirements!

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NLRA Poster. No later than April 30, 2012, most private sector employers will be required to post a notice advising employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The notice, Notice of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act, is available for downloading at www.nlrb.gov. The NLRA protects non-management employee rights [...]

Stop at the Intersection of Job Application and Facebook Login

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At the intersection of social media and law today is whether employers can or should ask job candidates for their Facebook login information as part of the interview process or force candidates or employees to “Friend” someone at the company. Several recent situations are raising this issue: In Spotsylvania Virginia,  law enforcement employees are forced to log onto social media accounts and [...]

Another Client Accolade

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We’re extremely pleased that Beth Bailey, co-owner of The Pediatric Connection, was recognized last night at the National Association of Women Business Owners meeting in Richmond as Entrepreneur of the Year. We have been privileged to serve as the firm’s legal team since the beginning. In fact, Beth and I talked a little over a [...]

Twitter Job Search – Does It Discriminate?

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Has your company joined the Twitter job posting trend?   If it has, you may unwittingly be discriminating against older applicants.  While many of the 40 and older set have acclimated to Facebook and Linked-In, Twitter still appeals predominantly to the under 40 age group.   While Twitter advertising may be economical, if you have 20 or [...]

Rite of Spring: Requests for Internships

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Has your phone started ringing with requests to provide internships for students eager to gain a line on their resume? If so, you are not alone. USA Today reports, however, that in light of recent litigation, companies are supporting fewer interns, fearful they will become the subject of a class action wage and hour lawsuit.  [...]

I Know What You Did Last Night: Employer GPS Monitoring

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The US Supreme Court ruled last month that a warrant is required for police to track a suspect with a GPS device, or the search violates the Fourth Amendment’s protection from unreasonable searches.  Many employees use devices (cell phones, smart phones, tablets and laptop computers) that incorporate GPS location monitoring.  In light of US v. Jones, the question is: do employees [...]

Only English in the workplace?

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Can an employer require its employees to speak only English in the workplace? Can you deem someone not qualified if he brings a translator to the interview? These are questions that are increasingly coming up in the average Virginia workplace as we become more multi-cultural. “English-only” refers to policies that restrict employee communication to English in [...]

Background Checks – Minefield For The Unwary

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Pepsi’s dollarsignr3.13 million settlement with the EEOC over an overly broad background check policy should cause all employers who use such checks to re-evaluate their policies. While background checks can provide invaluable information to employers in the hiring process, if used improperly, they may be deemed tools of discrimination. As we discuss in our Talking [...]

Cat’s Paw Decision Puts Fable in Employment Law

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Reflecting back over the last year, perhaps one of the most interesting employment cases involved “The Cat’s Paw” fable about the perils of allowing oneself to take action without regard to consequences due to the manipulative encouragement of another. The fable involves a conniving monkey who convinces a cat by flattery to extract roasting chestnuts [...]

Feds Hang Up On Commercial Drivers

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In a continued effort to reduce accidents from distracted driving, the federal government has banned as of January 3, 2012, all commercial motor vehicle drivers from using hand-held mobile phones while driving. The new rule from the Department of Transportation prohibits commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers from holding, dialing, or reaching for a hand-held mobile phone [...]

Supervisors Could Be Personally Liable for Leave Interference

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In a case decided in late August, Weth v O’Leary, a federal court in Virginia sent a wake-up call to all public employer supervisors when it held that the Treasurer of Arlington County could be held personally liable for interfering with the rights of an employee who was on Family and Medical Leave.  The case has [...]

Drafting Non-Competes Is Risky Business

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For those of you who draft, work with and seek to enforce restrictive covenants, pay particular attention to the recent November 2011 Virginia Supreme Court decision in Home Paramount Pest Control Companies, Inc. v. Shaffer. At first blush, the case appears to be nothing more than another decision in a long line of recent decisions [...]