The landscape has shifted for workers’ compensation in Florida. According to Insurance Journal, after a Florida Supreme Court ruling, “the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) filed a 17.1 percent rate increase with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) for all new, renewal and additional policies in effect on a “pro-rata” basis.” A limit […]

Will the EEOC Reform Act protect more employees from wage discrimination? A Senate bill was introduced in March to amend the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Reform Act. The EEOC Reform Act was first introduced in an attempt to collect pay data from employers and reduce the occurrence of wage inequalities and unlawful discrimination. In light […]

Were you fired for telling the truth? If your employer is doing something that is considered illegal and you report it, then your rights may be protected under federal and state whistleblower laws. There is legislation in place to protect whistleblowers. While each statute differs and is very specific as to what will be considered […]

In response to the growing number of cases, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proposed enforcement guidance on retaliation and related issues in the workplace. The EEOC offered the document to the public for comment and review. A copy of the proposed guidance is available for download and comment on the EEOC website until February […]

Do You Know Your Employee Rights? Whistleblowing is a common theme in Hollywood. While it makes a thrilling story to see the struggle between an employee doing what’s right and an underhanded company, there’s really nothing amusing about retaliatory action against an employee for blowing the whistle on the illegal or dangerous actions of his […]

New Jersey Whistleblower Case Not Protected by State Law Whistleblowers — individuals who report mismanagement, unethical practices, and/or violations of law — are generally protected from retaliation and negative employment actions. However, this is not the situation with a recent case in New Jersey. Will this case effect similar dilemmas in other states and set […]

NSA Caught Destroying Evidence in a Whistleblower Case Destroying evidence in an on-going investigation is against the law, but when the National Security Administration (NSA) destroys it as part of a whistleblower case against the NSA, that’s — what can we say? — extremely inadvisable. The Story of an NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake was a […]

We’re not in the business of victim blaming. In fact, our goal is to empower the so-called “targets” of a hostile work environment. While employees who experience workplace sexual harassment aren’t responsible for their abuse, it’s important that they know the steps they do or don’t take after an incident can impact the strength of […]

We’ve said it before: knowledge is power when it comes to overtime laws. Underhanded employers rely on their workers’ unfamiliarity with regulations set by the Fair Standards Labor Act (FSLA) and devise slight smoke-and-mirror schemes to obscure an employee’s overtime eligibility. However, most managers don’t moonlight as magicians so they’re not as skilled in concealing […]

The recent landmark Supreme Court case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby has led many to question what benefits businesses can deny their employees based on religious beliefs. Some critics argue that the ruling, which favored the corporation’s right to deny female contraceptives through its insurance policy based on religious freedom, actually discriminates against the values of […]