The last Retailer of 2016 is out! With Black Friday approaching, Toby Dykes of our Birmingham Office has a great feature on crowd dynamics and OSHA's guidance on how retail employers can keep their employees safe during the busiest shopping season of the year.

We also have graphics showing retailers' projected earnings and hiring plans for the holidays, and "bite-size ...

I'm a week late with this follow-up. (Sorry.)

Two weeks ago, I posted about an employee (fictionally named "Zoey") who had a peanut allergy. After she asked a peanut-butter-loving co-worker ("Addison") to be considerate, Zoey found a big glob of peanut butter smeared under her desk, which caused her to get sick. Addison denied being responsible.

To recap from last time:

*I said I ...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has delayed for a second time the enforcement date of its new "Reasonable Reporting Procedure" rule as it pertains to post-accident drug testing and safety incentive programs. The new enforcement date for the rule is December 1.

The rule was scheduled to take effect on August 10, and then OSHA extended the ...

DISCLAIMER: The Boss in this blog post is fictional. Any similarity to actual bosses, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No bosses were harmed in the writing of this post. If you'd prefer something warmer and fuzzier, try this.

Hey, Underling:

On this Monday, October 17, 2016, I thought it would be an opportune time to let you know that your efforts are appreciated!

You ...

In the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, 23 North Carolina counties have been approved to receive federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance. Gov. Pat McCrory has directed the state Department of Employment Security not to enforce the one-week waiting period that normally applies to unemployment claims.

The eligible counties are as follows: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Columbus ...

As we knew it would, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has appealed the decision of Judge Sean Cox, who granted summary judgment to a Detroit-area funeral home chain in a transgender discrimination case. Here is my analysis of Judge Cox's decision.

The case will go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which hears appeals from federal courts in Kentucky ...

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has vacated Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, which found that Title VII did not protect against sexual orientation discrimination. I wrote about the decision, issued by a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit, in August. The court will rehear the case with all of the judges participating.

Here is a copy of the order.

Ms ...

Or is it loved as much as ever, as long as it doesn't cost employees money?

Interesting questions are raised by a study conducted and recently published by Alexandre Mas, a Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at at Princeton University, and Amanda Pallais, a Paul Sack Associate Professor of Political Economy and Social Studies at Harvard University.

The professors conducted a ...

NOTE FROM ROBIN: This is another post from our Public Sector Industry Group. Welcome, Ray!

During this election season, we thought it would be timely to bring up what are commonly referred to as “resign to run” laws.  So-called "resign to run" laws require that before an elected official may run for a different (usually, higher) office, he or she must first resign from the current ...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment in construction and extraction occupations will grow 10 percent from 2014 to 2024 - increasing from 6.5 million to 7.2 million jobs - the biggest increase in any industry. As a result, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which is responsible for ensuring that contractors meet their affirmative action ...