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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Eighth Circuit Rules States Have Standing To Challenge PWFA Regulations

A group of 17 states challenging regulations that require employers to reasonably accommodate employees seeking abortions may proceed with its lawsuit, a federal appeals court ruled February 20. In Tennessee v. EEOC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found that the states had standing to sue because the EEOC’s rule implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Biden’s Wage and Hour Division Publishes Guidance in Final Days

In the final days of the Biden Administration, DOL’s Wage and Hour Division issued two opinion letters. WHD opinion letters are not binding on the courts, but employers may rely on them. DOL Opinion Letter FMLA 2025-01-A — FMLA interplay with state and local paid leave programs DOL Opinion Letter FMLA 2025-01-A states that an employer cannot require an employee who...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

DOL Proposes Phasing Out Subminimum Wages for People With Disabilities

DOL’s Wage and Hour Division published a proposed rule December 4 that would phase out the Section 14(c) certificate program that allows employers to pay less than the minimum wage to individuals with disabilities. If the proposed rule were adopted in its current form, applications sent on or after the rule’s effective date would be ignored, and existing certificates would...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

DOL Says an Employee Has the Right To Use FMLA Leave for a Clinical Trial

An employee may use FMLA leave to participate in a clinical trial or research study to treat a serious health condition, according to a new opinion letter from the Labor Department. An eligible employee has the right to use FMLA leave because of a serious health condition. The Family and Medical Leave Act defines a serious health condition as an...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOL Wage and Hour Division Again Reports Increase in FMLA Violations

The number of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) cases in which the Department of Labor found a violation increased in fiscal year 2024—and for a second consecutive year—after having declined annually over the previous decade, according to data recently released by DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. This indicates that more employees are now electing to file complaints with WHD rather...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Third Circuit Confirms Chronic Serious Health Condition Must Be Established at the Time of Leave

To qualify as having a serious health condition under the Family and Medical Leave Act, an employee must have sought periodic treatment before requesting or taking leave for a chronic condition, a federal appeals court ruled October 18, 2024, in Rodriquez v. SEPTA. In a win for employers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit denied a former...
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Category: Compliance Reporting and Recordkeeping

Template for Assessing Disability and Veteran Outreach

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, has updated its template for assessing outreach to persons with disabilities and protected veterans. It can assist CWC’s federal contractor members in organizing their data so they’re ready if the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) audits them. The template also should make it easier to respond to items...
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Category: Compliance Reporting and Recordkeeping

CWC’s Updated Personnel Processes Template for Protected Vets and People with Disabilities

CWC has updated our Personnel Processes Review Template to help our federal contractor members comply with government contracting regulations related to recruitment and hiring procedures for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) regulations about protected veterans under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) are codified at 41 CFR Part 60-300. The...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

EEOC Files First Lawsuit Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed its first lawsuit alleging that an employer violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which took effect last year. In EEOC v. Wabash National Corp., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, the EEOC alleges that a manufacturer of semi-trailers and commercial trucking equipment violated the PWFA by requiring...
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Category: ADA

CWC’s Updated ADA Reasonable Accommodation Compliance Guide

CWC presents an updated guide covering the reasonable accommodation requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Our ADA Reasonable Accommodation Compliance Guide answers questions that could arise during the interactive process laid out in guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC). ADA charges filed with the EEOC have increased steadily, and the EEOC’s enforcement data show that disability discrimination charges...

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