We’ve made it to the last week of January and our last employer resolution: reviewing and updating the company’s employee handbook. While this may seem like the simplest resolution, it will actually require careful thought and review. A handbook is more than just a list of “dos and don’ts.” It is an employer’s first line of defense in litigation and an important tool for setting company culture. Employers need to look at both whether their handbooks address their actual
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Employer New Year’s Resolution #3: Address Artificial Intelligence
Another week, another resolution. This time, we’re addressing the AI elephant in the room. While the use cases for AI are myriad, the legal landscape is somewhat unknown and rapidly developing. But, for better or worse, employees are using AI. So, from trade secret risks to proposed legal oversight, employers need to address AI now.
The biggest mistake an employer can make is assuming their workforce isn’t using AI because
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Employer New Year’s Resolution #2: Comprehensive Wage & Hour Audit
As we start the second full week of January, we bring employers a second employment law resolution: a comprehensive wage and hour audit. So, even if you’re sticking to your commitment to less screen time in 2026, this is worth a read.
In addition to lawsuits brough by individuals, either on behalf of themselves or on behalf of a class of similarly situated employees, the Department of Labor remains focused on enforcement of the FLSA. In fiscal year 2025,
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Employer New Year’s Resolution #1: Get Your I-9s in Order
It’s January, and we all know what that means—New Year’s resolutions. While many of us will stop going to the gym by the end of the week, we’re bringing you a month of employment law resolutions that we hope you keep all year long. First up: the Form I-9.
I-9s are (or should be) completed at the time of hire and then, usually, shoved in a personnel file, never to be thought of again. And, if the form was
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What Employers Need to Know About No Tax On Overtime
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025, introduced a temporary federal income tax deduction for “qualified overtime compensation.” Under this provision, eligible employees can deduct a capped amount of their overtime pay from their federal income taxes. However, it is the employer that must track and report the necessary information.
What Can Be Deducted?
The deduction does not apply to all overtime compensation. It only applies to the premium portion of overtime required
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Supreme Court Clarifies Initial Burden of Proof for ‘Reverse’ Discrimination Claims
In a decision that clarifies the evidentiary standards for all employment discrimination claims, on June 5, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services (No. 23-1039). This ruling directly impacts how “reverse” discrimination claims are evaluated, emphasizing that Title VII protects all individuals equally, regardless of their majority or minority group status.
Prior to the decision in Ames, a split existed among federal circuit courts regarding the initial burden
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Judge Blocks DOL Increase to Salary Thresholds for Exempt Workers
In April 2024, the Department of Labor announced a final rule, entitled Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Executives, which aimed to increase the salary that employees must be paid, in addition to performing certain job duties, in order to be exempt from the payment of overtime. That rule had a multi-tiered implementation. First, on July 1, 2024, the salary necessary to qualify as exempt from overtime increased to $43,888 annually ($844 weekly).
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FTC Non-Compete Ban Enjoined Nationwide
On Tuesday, August 20, 2024, a Texas federal judge issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the Federal Trade Commission from enforcing its rule banning non-compete clauses. The ruling states that the agency “lacks statutory authority” to enact the rule and that the rule is “unreasonably overbroad without a reasonable explanation.” The FTC has the option of appealing the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. We will continue to monitor developments on this matter.
So, at least for now,
What Employers Should Do Regarding the Looming Effective Date of the FTC’s Non-Compete Ban
As discussed previously, the Federal Trade Commission published a rule banning “non-compete clauses” in almost all cases involving employees, independent contractors, externs, interns, volunteers, apprentices, and sole proprietors who provide services to a person.
The rule is currently scheduled to go into effect on September 4, 2024. If the rule goes into effect, the majority of employers would not be permitted to enter into new non-compete clauses with any employees and will need to notify non-senior executives with
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Employment LawScene Alert: FTC Bans Employee Non-Competes, but Legal Challenges Expected
The administrative agencies are having a busy week! In addition to the DOL issuing an updated rule on the salary basis to be overtime exempt, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 on its long-awaited non-compete ban, which was initially issued as a proposed rule in January 2023. The FTC estimates that this rule will affect 2,301,874 employees in Wisconsin and increase wages of each of those employees by $524 annually.
Under the FTC’s
Continue Reading Employment LawScene Alert: FTC Bans Employee Non-Competes, but Legal Challenges Expected
Employment LawScene Alert: DOL Issues Final Overtime Rule with Significant Salary Threshold Increase
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime pay at 1.5 times their regular rate for all hours worked in a workweek in excess of 40. In order to be considered exempt, an employee must be paid a salary in excess of a certain amount and must perform certain job duties, generally of a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional. Currently, the salary basis is $35,568 per year ($684 per week), which was most recently
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Employment LawScene Alert: Biden Proposed Budget Has Labor and Employment Signals
On March 11, 2024, President Biden released the Budget of the U.S. Government for Fiscal Year 2025. Although this proposed budget is only a proposal and unlikely to pass either the House or the Senate as currently drafted, it does provide insight into the Biden Administration’s priorities and contains a number of important labor and employment components.
First, the proposed budget contains a 2.3% increase to the Department of Labor’s discretionary budget and a 7% increase to the National
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Dust Off Those Handbooks: The NLRB Has Changed Its Rules (Again)
Because the incumbent President appoints members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the NLRB’s decisions often reflect the policy choices of that President’s political party. Generally, when a Democrat holds office, the NLRB’s decisions are more employee and union-friendly, and when a Republican holds office, the NLRB’s decisions are more management-friendly. An issue that the NLRB has consistently gone back and forth on, depending on the incumbent President, is the standard for evaluating employee handbooks and establishing what
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Pregnant and Nursing Employees Have Newly Expanded Rights
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act) and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) into law. Both expand the protections for pregnant, postpartum, and nursing employees, who may also have protections under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the FMLA.
The PUMP Act expands the 2010 amendment to the FLSA that required employers to provide a nursing mother reasonable break time to express breast
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Religious Accommodation in Employment Will Have Its Day at the High Court
In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has made major employment law headlines with its Bostock decision (holding sexual orientation and gender identity are protected classes under Title VII) and Epic Systems decision (holding class-action waivers are enforceable against employees), among others. It looks like 2023 will be no different. In addition to taking up the rights of employers to sue unions for damages incurred during strikes and asking the Solicitor General to weigh in on what actions can
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Vote! And Remember That Your Employees are Entitled to Time Off to Vote!
Tuesday, November 8, 2022, is Election Day. Although early voting is underway, many people will want to vote in-person on Election Day. All Wisconsin employers, regardless of size, are required to provide employees who are eligible to vote up to three consecutive hours of unpaid leave to vote while the polls are open (from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.). Employees must request the time off prior to Election Day. Employers cannot deny voting leave on the basis that employees
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