Scary. Did you know that you could have workers' compensation liability for your employee's addiction to pain killers, or even an overdose, if the pain killers were being taken because of a workplace injury? Here's an eye-opening guide for employers from the National Safety Council, via Bloomberg BNA.

Law360 reported this morning that the U.S. Department of Labor issued a memorandum addressing the "independent contractor versus employee" issue, taking the position that most workers are actually employees within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

We'll have more on this after we've had an opportunity to review it in more depth. Meanwhile, here is the Memorandum

It's been a hectic week for me (I have a trial coming up), and so here are some links to employment law blog posts and workplace news items that I hope will entertain and edify.

5 Things Your Manager Doesn't Want You to Know. By the great Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas. (Just to whet your appetite, the first is "I can't fire you.")

Can Employee Display a ...

Hey, EEOC, there's this newfangled technique known as "track changes." Look into it!

Last Thursday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued its amended guidance on pregnancy discrimination and accommodation in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Young v. UPS, issued in March 2015. The EEOC's original guidance was issued in July 2014, but now the ...

I hope you love this Chet Atkins version of John Phillip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" as much as I did. Have a great holiday!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8BDYETDM5c

Maybe not that much, depending on where you are and how "proactive" you've already been before now.

Seriously, I don't think Friday's Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges will be that big a deal for most employers. The Supreme Court already decided in 2013 that the federal definition of "spouse" included same-sex spouses (assuming the marriage was legally valid where ...

I haven't had a chance to analyze yesterday's Supreme Court decision in King v. Burwell, so meanwhile here is a link to a "plain English" summary of the decision, and here is a link to the decision. Both from the outstanding SCOTUSblog.

We will have more on this in the not-too-distant future. Don't go away!

The decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, hot off the press, is 103 pages long, but here it is. Some instant analysis:

*The due process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution compel states to recognize same-sex marriages.

*The First Amendment will continue to protect those who object to same-sex marriage for religious reasons.

The decision was 5-4 ...

The following is a scatological post, so grab a stool, have a seat, and listen up! (Or get a magazine.)

On Monday, a federal jury in Atlanta awarded two hourly warehouse workers $2.2 million in a lawsuit brought under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.

The controversy started when Atlas Logistics Group Retail Services, a grocery distributor, had a problem with ...

As you know, I strongly disapprove of use of the "N" word in the workplace. I don't think African-Americans should say it, and I really, really don't think people who aren't African-American should use it.

Well, this weekend President Obama used the "N" word, and he didn't say "the 'N' word." In a podcast interview with comedian Marc Maron, the President was quoted as saying,

Racism ...