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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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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

EEOC COVID Vaccine Settlement Highlights Risk in Questioning Employees’ Religious Beliefs

A recent settlement involving an employer and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) illustrates the potential risk for an employer that questions whether an employee who asks for a religious accommodation has sincere religious beliefs. The settlement agreement in EEOC v. Hank’s Furniture, (N.D. Fla. July 15, 2024), prohibits the employer from concluding that any religious belief is not sincere because the...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Federal Courts Reach Different Opinions in PWFA Pregnancy Accommodation Cases

Two federal district courts considering challenges to regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) have reached different conclusions regarding the statute’s application to workers having elective abortions. The regulations, issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), took effect June 18, 2024. In the first case, Tennessee v. EEOC (E.D. Ark. June 14, 2024), a federal district court in Arkansas...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Congress Approves Expansion of Lactation Protections for Airline Flight Crews

The FAA Reauthorization Act (H.R. 3935), which was signed into law May 16, 2024, not only reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for five years, but it also provides lactation protection for airline crew members. Section 421 of the bill directs the FAA to issue guidance to airlines regarding the expression of milk by crewmembers. Section 421 states that the...
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Category: Comment Letter

CWC Comments to EEOC on PWFA Procedural Rules Urge Greater Transparency Re: Process Used

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, filed comments with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission endorsing EEOC’s recently revised procedural regulations as being consistent with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The comments also express CWC’s concern that EEOC did not give the public an opportunity to comment until after it finalized the rules. The revisions...

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