Rojgar Job News

The Connecticut Appellate Court today released an important disability discrimination decision that gives employers some support for employees who struggle with employees who ask for “accommodations” for an indefinite leave for a medical condition. The case ostensibly addresses the request for “indefinite leave” which I’ve previously talked about it in prior posts. But the case boils down to a familiar set of facts for employers. An employee who one day says, “I need to take 30 days off for a medical condition” and leaves the employer to twist without further response. As explained by the court: The plaintiff informed the defendant that she would be taking a leave of absence, did not provide the defendant with any time frame for her return, and did not respond to the defendant’s subsequent attempts to contact her regarding her request for leave. The plaintiff effectively asked the defendant ‘‘to hold [her] position op...

Lawyers love their cocktail chatter. And at a recent bar event, an interesting hypothetical came up among lawyers: Suppose an employee is trying to get pregnant and is thinking about infertility treatments.  She’s considering time off for rest, and perhaps even for some in vitro fertilization (IVF) appointments. Perhaps even the doctor has said that the employee needs “light duty” work during certain days.   Maybe things are a little more hazy; suppose the employee just says that they are undergoing infertility treatment and needs some time off. Is the employer obligated to provide such an accommodation? The answers aren’t entirely clear. Let’s go through some of the laws that may be implicated: FMLA – As Jeff Nowak discussed in a 2015 post on the subject in his excellent FMLA Insights blog, the FMLA regulations do not “specifically address” IVF and thus it’s an open question whether the FMLA would apply. One court tha...

Today, Massachusetts started retail sales of marijuana at two locations. Perhaps no location is closer to the population centers of Connecticut than Northampton — just 30 miles up the road from Enfield.  It’s the first store east of the Mississippi River. And lest you think that this is a Massachusetts-only affair, you need only watch the news reports from today to understand that there are plenty of Connecticut residents lining up seeking to avoid the restrictions in place in the Constitution State.   And Governor-Elect Lamont has indicated he’s in favor of it.  This is going to cause headaches and some choices for employers in Connecticut. Small amounts of marijuana have been de-criminalized in Connecticut but recreational use and possession is still prohibited. Moreover, employers are still free to discipline employees for recreational use on the job or even off. But Connecticut has, for several years now, permitted medical marijuana users ...

So like nearly all of America, my family saw  Avengers: Endgame  this weekend. (Minor Spoiler Ahead!) Of course, we laughed. We cried.  And it was definitely better than Cats.   All the while thinking of the employment law issues that are just under the surface. You can take the employment lawyer out of the office, but you can’t take the employment law out of an employment lawyer.  In fact, it was way back in 2012, that I first talked about the employment law issues with the Avengers.  ( Seriously: If you don’t want to know ANYTHING, there’s a mild spoiler ahead but no major plot points are disclosed.) So with that in mind, there were numerous employment issues that you might have missed in Avengers: Endgame .  Maybe you were under control of the Mind Stone by Loki. Let’s start with an important issue: What Accommodations Do You Need to Provide to Professor Hulk? Imagine having Bruce Banner on payroll as a professor at your...

Late on Tuesday (April 23, 2019) the CHRO released new Legal Enforcement Guidance on “Pregnancy, Childbirth, or Related Conditions at Work”.  Or you might call it a “Bluepaper” instead – as a “one-pager” on the subject called it. That one-pager was prepared by the Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School’s Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization seemingly with the blessing and approval of the CHRO which also posted it to its website late Tuesday. So is it a Bluepaper or Guidance? Well, it’s titled “Guidance” so let’s go with that.  Indeed, the CHRO’s guidance here follows similar guidance released on other laws by the Connecticut Department of Labor such as this one on Paid Sick Leave. What are the highlights of the guidance?  In a lot of ways, the guidance mimics (as it should) the current law on the subject. It also mirrors the language already present in the p...

Recently, I saw a skiing dog. Oh, and it was wearing sunglasses too. To be fair (to the dog), it was actually tucked neatly in a backpack while the owner was in line for the chairlift. I didn’t actually see the dog skiing, but you get the picture.  (Which I did capture!) I thought I had seen everything but this was something new. And yet, it perfectly captured for me, a growing trend I’ve been hearing clients asking me about — “Everyone seems to be asking to bring their dogs everywhere. When do I have to allow a dog (or other emotional support animal) in my workplace?” First, to be clear, I’m not talking about service animals — the type that do work or provide some benefit to those who are disabled.  A trained service dog may, for example, be able to spot seizures for those with epilepsy. In such an instance, the ADA requires that employers provide a “reasonable accommodation”; in most instances, the service animal can (and...

Can I test my employees for COVID-19? Over the course of the last few months, it feels like the answer to that question has been Yes, No, and It Depends. And maybe all three at the same time. In fact, if you look at my post from April 2020, you’ll see the differences in the guidance between then and, as I’ll explain below, now. Quite simple, with more science, we’re starting to get greater clarity on what testing is permissible for employees. For antibody testing, the CDC recently updated its interim guidance to state that antibody test results “should not be used to make decisions about returning persons to the workplace.” Antibody testing, as it turns out, is not yet the panacea yet that many were hoping for. As a result, on June 17, 2020, the EEOC  also updated its guidance on whether antibody testing could be used by employers as a condition of permitting employees to return to the workplace. The short answer is “No”, it cannot be used...