In many instances being ranked second is quite the accomplishment. But in this case it should set off alarm bells for employers. In 2022 Tennessee ranked second in the nation in the amount of EEOC Charges filed. Tennessee workers filed 6,311 Charges of Discrimination, which is almost 89.5 charges per 100,000 residents. Only Illinois was more litigious than Tennessee, but it was a photo finish. Illinois workers filed 89.7 charges for every 100,000 residents. Retaliation was the most common claim asserted. While an EEOC Charge is likely inevitable at some point, employers can take several proact ..read more

On September 21st the EEOC released its Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for the years 2024-2028. The SEP sets the EEOC’s subject matter priorities and is a roadmap to the areas upon which it will focus. The SEP states that the EEOC will continue its focus on promoting pay practices to prevent discrimination, combatting pay discrimination and advancing equal pay, preventing and remedying systemic harassment and tackling retaliation. The changes to the SEP include: Targeting discrimination, bias, and hate directed against religious minorities (including antisemitism and Islamophobia), racial o ..read more

Yesterday the U.S. Department of Labor announced a proposed rule to raise the minimum salary threshold tied to certain FLSA exemptions. Under the proposed rule the minimum salary to be exempt from overtime under the Executive, Administrative and Professional exemptions to the FLSA would increase to $1,059 per week, or $55,068 per year. The current rate is $684 per week, or $35,568 a year. The proposed new salary threshold is tied to the 35th percentile of weekly earnings of full-time salaried workers in the Southern U.S. Under the proposed rule the minimum salary threshold would automatically ..read more

This year the NLRB has been flexing its muscle. In its February 21st McLaren Macomb decision the NLRB attacked non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions in non-supervisor severance agreements. On May 30th the NLRB General Counsel took aim at non-compete agreements (see my June 5th blog https://tnemploymentlawblog.com/2023/06/05/the-nlrb-takes-aim-at-non-compete-provisions/). And, to complete its own unholy trinity, on August 2nd the NLRB set a new standard for deciding whether employer work rules that do not expressly restrict protected activity still violate the NLRA. In Stericycle Inc ..read more

The NLRB has been flexing its muscle this year. First came the McLaren Macomb decision, where the Board found that confidentiality and nondisparagement provisions in severance agreements for non-supervisors violated the National Labor Relations Act. On May 30th the NLRB General Counsel issued a memorandum and took aim at noncompete agreements. The General Counsel’s memo states that except in limited circumstances the “proffer, maintenance and enforcement ” of noncompete provisions violates the Act, because, in her opinion, noncompete provisions “reasonably tend to chill employees” in the exerc ..read more

On January 5th the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a proposed rule that would ban noncompete agreements between employers and their workers in most circumstances. While the proposed rule will almost certainly be met with legal challenges and ultimately get resolved in the courts, let’s take a look at what you need to know now. The proposed rule would make it illegal for an employer to enter into or attempt to enter into a noncompete with a worker. The proposed rule covers all employers. “Worker” is broadly defined as a natural person who works, whether paid or unpaid, for an employer and ..read more

Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th. In April Tennessee passed a new law that requires employers to allow employees who are veterans to take Veterans Day off as an unpaid holiday if certain conditions are met. The law applies to all persons or entities with one or more employees. Under the law an employee is a veteran if he or she is: 1. a former member of the armed forces or; 2. a former or current member of a Reserve or a Tennessee National Guard unit that was called into active military service of the United States. In order to qualify to take Veterans Day off as an unpaid holiday t ..read more

As of July 1st Tennessee joined the states that prohibit discrimination based on an employee’s natural hairstyle. The General Assembly passed the CROWN Act- Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair. The CROWN Act prohibits private employers from adopting policies or practices that restrict or ban employees from wearing ethnic hairstyles within the workplace, including braids, locs, twists, bantu knots, or other hairstyles that are part of the cultural identification of or physical characteristic of the employee’s ethnic group. Tennessee is the first state in the South to make th ..read more

On February 10th the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the so called #MeToo bill, H.R. 4445. The bill prohibits mandatory arbitration of workplace sexual harassment and sexual assault claims. The bill will become law after it is signed by President Biden. After it is signed it will take effect immediately. Under this (soon to be) law employers can no longer require employees to arbitrate sexual harassment or sexual assault claims. Mandatory arbitration of other claims will, however, still be allowed so long as your arbitration agreement/provision complies with all state law requirements for enfor ..read more

This afternoon the Supreme Court issued two opinions pertaining to “mandatory vaccination rules” . The Court blocked the OSHA vaccine or test mandate, which was applicable to employers with 100 or more employees. The Court voted 6-3 to stay or block the OSHA Rule. In a 5-4 decision the Court allowed the CMS Mandatory Vaccination Rule to proceed, as it stayed two District Court decisions which had enjoined the Rule. The CMS Rule applies to facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid Funding , their employees, and contractors who provide services to those facilities. In Tennessee this means th ..read more