Employment Laws

Employment law covers all rights and obligations within the employer-employee relationship — whether current employees, job applicants, or former employees. Because of the complexity of employment relationships and the wide variety of situations that can arise, employment law involves legal issues as diverse as discrimination, wrongful termination, wages and taxation, and workplace safety. Many of these issues are governed by applicable federal and state law. This is FindLaw’s collection of Employment Laws articles, part of the Human Resources section of the Corporate Counsel Center. Law articles in this archive are predominantly written by lawyers for a professional audience seeking business solutions to legal issues. Start your free research with FindLaw.

Human Resources

Employment Laws Articles

Court of Appeals Decides “Fair” Average Weekly Wage

Traditionally, when an employee has been employed for a year or more, average weekly wage has been determined by averaging the employee's earnings during the fifty-two weeks preceding injury. Recently, the Court of Appeals held that computation of a ...
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Court of Appeals Holds Form 63 Binding

After claimant fell out of a window, a Form 19 was filed by employer indicating that claimant's occupation was "framer/subcontractor" and that he had been "employed" for two and one-half years as a carpenter. The carrier filed a Form 63 Notice to ...
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Court of Appeals to Review Whether Pre-Hire Arbitration Agreements are Enforceable

The Michigan Court of Appeals has convened a special conflict panel to review the issue of whether pre-hire arbitration agreements which require employees to submit all employment-related claims, including discrimination claims, are enforceable. In ...
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Court Rules Severance Agreement is a Top Hat Plan

As you may be aware, ERISA imposes strict requirements on employee benefit plans in four areas: (1) funding, (2) participation, (3) vesting, and (4) fiduciary duties. Top hat plans, however, are exempt from these requirements. A top hat plan is a ...
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Court Upholds Regulation That Could Require More Than Twelve Weeks of FMLA Leave

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently endorsed a Labor Department regulation that requires employers to designate an employee's leave as FMLA-qualifying or run the risk of having to provide employees with more than twelve weeks of leave in a ...
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Courts Beginning to Reverse Position, Reject Employers’ Arbitration Provisions

Recent decisions in Michigan and other jurisdictions suggest that courts may be backing away from enforcing so called "mandatory" arbitration provisions, particularly those involving civil rights and consumers' claims which appear to reflect unequal ...
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Courts Disagree on Employer Substitution of Paid Leave for Unpaid FMLA Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act granted eligible employees a total of 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period. Since FMLA leave is unpaid, Congress also provided eligible employees could elect to substitute certain accrued paid leave and ...
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Courts Lessen Employee’s Burden for Proving Retaliation Claim

For employers, retaliation claims may very well be the scariest area of employment discrimination law because the merit of the employee's initial discrimination complaint may not prevent an employee from reaching a jury and ultimately prevailing on ...
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Cross-Border Intellectual Property Disputes: Should My Company Use International Arbitration?

Cross-border intellectual property disputes present unique challenges. Many companies in the technology, publishing, and entertainment industries engage in intellectual property transactions giving little forethought to dispute resolution issues ...
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Defense: The Whistleblower Amendments: Good Intentions Gone Awry?

The California Legislature passed SB 777 to significantly expand the rights and protections afforded employee whistleblowers. Certainly, encouraging employees to disclose corporate abuses as early as possible to prevent and minimize the consequences ...
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