That was fast.

Why not?

With employee mobility and desire for flexible work arrangements continually increasing, some employers are turning to non-compete agreements to limit the disruption to their workforces. But as some employers have been using non-competes with low-wage, unskilled workers, criticism has followed—including a recent White House call for states to ban ...

*President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act into law on Wednesday afternoon. Billy Hammel, Bill McMahon, and Anna Rothschild have provided outstanding analysis of the law and what it means for employers in this Client Bulletin.

*And, speaking of Billy Hammel, he had a great blog post this week on the White House Report on Non-Compete Agreements. (Preview: The White House isn't ...

Last Thursday, the White House issued a report titled “Non-Compete Agreements: Analysis of the Usage, Potential Issues, and State Responses” and an accompanying blog post. Relying heavily on a report earlier this year from the U.S. Treasury, the White House report criticizes the perceived misuse of non-competes, highlights their negative impact on the ...

Last week, we talked about 20 things an employer should ask itself before terminating an employee. In the interests of fairness, here are 10 things that an employee should ask before suing an employer. You should know that I generally don't believe that lawsuits are the best way to resolve problems. (I realize that there are exceptions.)

BEFORE YOU GO ON, PLEASE READ THIS!!!! I ...

From the annals of "Oh, no - I didn't -" . . .

The Winston-Salem Journal (my hometown paper - yay!) reports that a company is suing a former employee in the North Carolina Business Court for breach of his confidentiality and non-compete agreements.*

*The article ran in the Winston-Salem Journal but was written by a reporter from the Greensboro News & Record.

Douglas Poling was fired by Evo ...

Religious accommodation, the Oscars, non-competes, social media, Brian Williams versus Bill O'Reilly, workplace violence, and inspirational employees -- we have it all today! Here are some links about recent news and court cases involving the workplace, followed by some points for discussion if you'd like to comment.

Supreme Court justices seem to side with hijab-wearer ...

If news reports are true (and perhaps they are not), then the ex-General Manager of NBC's Today show provides a good example of how not to treat employees.

Jamie Horowitz was hired away from ESPN to save the Today show, which has fallen behind its rival Good Morning America in the ratings.

He was fired only 78 days later, and he hadn't even had a chance to take over the show. His "listening tour ...

It has been a long time since we talked about the Family and Medical Leave Act, but a couple of interesting and noteworthy decisions came out this week from Way Out West.

Our first case, from a federal district court in Oregon, answered the following question:

Can an employer require a doctor's note every time an employee takes intermittent FMLA leave?

YES

NO

C'mon! Even if he's an abuser?