WIRTW #465 (the “gimme a break” edition)

Next week, I am taking a much needed break, as I will be out of the office. I’ll see everyone back on June 19. Of course, now that I’ve committed not to blog next week, the employment-law poop will certainly hit the fan next week, in which case my blogger OCD will compel me to break my pledge, interrupt my trip, and bring you all the news that’s fit to blog. Either way.

Here’s what I read this week:

Discrimination

• Second-guessing the advice columns on workplace law — again! — via Robin Shea’s Employment & Labor Insider
• “In Bias Cases, Gorsuch Subpar for the Course” — via How Appealing
• Requests for Accommodation Under FMLA and ADA — via San Antonio Employment Law Blog
• Engendering Transgenderism In The Modern Workplace — via HR Gazette

Technology

• Addicted to the Internet? — via Technologist
• Why Annual Social Media Policy Reviews Are Necessary — via TalentCulture
• Epidemic: Hackers Insert Cyber Attacks in Social Media Posts — via Ride The Lightning
• Cybersecurity Faces 1.8 Million Worker Shortfall By 2022 — via Dark Reading
• Ransomware: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly — via Law.com
• What Employers Need to Know about Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation — via Privacy Law Blog
• Court Rules Emoji Can Convey Intent — via Above the Law

HR & Employee Relations

• Does Your Employee Handbook Need a Midyear Checkup? — via Next Blog
• Is a 4-day workweek the key to employee engagement? — via Ragan.com
• The Future of Employee Relations — via CUE, Inc.
• At This Company, 40 Hours Means 40 Hours — via TLNT
• Five reasons why HR needs a more critical role in your company than it currently has — via California Employment Law Report
• When Can I Ask For My Dead Co-Worker’s Desk? — via Evil Skippy at Work
• Non-Competes Can Cost You More Than A Job — via Trade Secret / Noncompete Blog
• Protecting Your Company and Your Employees During an ICE Raid — via Stoel Rives World of Employment

Wage & Hour

• DOL Expected to Issue Request for Information on OT Rules — via The Wage and Hour Litigation Blog
• Injunction? What injunction? New class action suit claims employer violated the new DOL overtime rules — via Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook Blog
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished – The Supreme Court May Decide Whether Payments for Meal Breaks Can Offset Alleged Off-The-Clock Work — via The Wage and Hour Litigation Blog
• Court: Temps May Not be “Employees” Under Workers Compensation Law, Allowing Lawsuit — via Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog
• Independent Contractor or Employee? - Construction Workplace Misclassification Act — via Phil Miles’s Lawffice Space
• 5 Signs Your Independent Contractor May Be Properly Classified — via Who Is My Employee?
• Joint Liability for Franchisors? — via The Labor Dish
• Wage retaliation is a big “NO-NO” — via Mike Haberman’s Omega HR Solutions

Labor

• Should You Say Good Bye to Arbitration Agreements and Recording Bans? — via The Emplawyerologist
• Misclassified Logic at the NLRB — via Workforce Freedom Initiative
• Congressional Leaders Ask Trump to Fill Long-Standing Vacancies at the NLRB — via Labor Relations
• “New challenge to labor union support fees” — via How Appealing
• Whose Law is it Anyway? NLRB Region’s Complaint Seeking to Have Contractors Converted to Employees Throws Agency into the Misclassification Fray with the IRS and DOL — via Labor Relations