Seyfarth Synopsis: While employees often will toot their own horn, employers sometimes may have concerns about their ability to safely perform their job. If this situation rings a bell, it will be music to your ears to hear that it may be possible to request employees to undergo a medical examination to certify their fitness for duty.
Fitness for
Continue Reading Is Your Employee As Fit As A Fiddle?
Seyfarth Synopsis: It has long been clear that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California law protect employees who suffer from alcoholism if it qualifies as a “disability.” Although courts have recognized the right of an employer to have legitimate work rules that prohibit alcohol use in the workplace, the line between having a protected disability and engaging
Continue Reading Addressing Alcoholism in the California Workplace
Seyfarth Synopsis: When must an employer provide leave time in addition to FMLA/CFRA-type leave as a reasonable accommodation? The answer to that question, as with many other leave-related questions, may depend on your location on the map.
Remember that early TV sitcom “Leave It To Beaver,” starring Jerry Mathers as the Beaver? “The Beave” constantly got into trouble
Continue Reading Leave It To California – Post FMLA/CFRA/PDL Leave and FEHA
Please click on the below link for an interesting and timely article posted today on our sister blog, ADA Title III News & Insights:
Seyfarth Synopsis: Plaintiffs who pursued web accessibility actions under Title III of the ADA are now using website accessibility to test the limits of a different area of law – employment law – California’s Fair Employment
Continue Reading A New Use of FEHA? Accessibility of On-Line Employment Applications
Seyfarth Synopsis: New Year’s resolutions typically address health and well-being. Many among us have resolved this year to get off the couch, to sweat a bit more often to the “oldies,” to meditate and be mindful, and to eat less cake and fewer tacos. And so one might think that courts would endorse the EEOC’s approval of employer-sponsored wellness
Continue Reading A New Year, A New Wellness Program
Seyfarth Synopsis: Genetic discrimination lawsuits can result in substantial costs. California employers should regularly review their hiring and employment policies and procedures to ensure that they are not exposing themselves to potential liability on the basis of genetic information discrimination.
For most of us, exposure to “DNA” dates back to high school science class or dinosaur theme park movies. Many
Continue Reading Scary as Dinosaurs: California’s Genetic Information Discrimination Code
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal, on rehearing, has superseded a 2016 decision that employers must reasonably accommodate work restrictions because of the disabilities of the employee’s associates. The superseding opinion recognizes that employers have no established duty to provide accommodations because of the disability of an employee’s associates.
Seyfarth’s One Minute Memo readers will recall that we reported, back
Continue Reading Something We Said? Court Backs Off Accommodation Duty For Associational Disability
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers are usually mindful of the many laws governing employee medical leaves and how they interact. But what about accommodation for non-medically necessary leaves? This post discusses the basics of employee leaves for elective medical procedures.
California employers who administer employee leave laws navigate a complicated labyrinth. Employers must consider interactions among federal laws (ADA, FMLA, Title VII),
Continue Reading Nip/Tuck Leave: When Employees Take Leave for Elective Procedures
Seyfarth Synopsis: ‘Tis the season of food temptation: the average American gains at least five pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. California employers need to beware of weight discrimination in the fluctuating legal landscape, and how to handle bias in hiring and the workplace.
A 2008 study from Yale University found that weight discrimination, often referred to as
Continue Reading “Weight Watchers”—Weight Discrimination in the Workplace
Seyfarth Synopsis: Many employers have “no fault” attendance policies in place to manage employee absenteeism. Are these policies putting California employers on shaky ground? Read on….
“No fault” attendance policies are one popular method among employers to, with consistency, counsel, discipline and, in some instances, terminate employees who rack up excessive absences. Under these policies, the reason for the employee’s
Continue Reading The Fault Line Running Under “No Fault” Attendance Policies