Extension of Remote Notarization and Witnessing Through June 30, 2020
In Executive Order No. 37, Governor Bill Lee extended the temporary use of remote notarization and witnessing of documents in Tennessee through June 30, 2020. The previous order, Executive Order No. 26, was set to expire on May 17. The order allows for remote notarization and witnessing of a will, deed, and power of attorney, among other legal documents, to be done through an audio and visual communication like Zoom or Skype. This order also permits the extension of terms of any notaries public and online notaries which were set to expire between March 12, 2020 and June 15, 2020. These
Families First Coronavirus Response Act Signed Into Law, Will Go Into Effect April 1st
On March 18th, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”) was signed into law. The 110-page bill contains, in part, two additional types of employment leave aimed at allowing employees affected by the Coronavirus to take paid leave. The first are new FMLA leave entitlements, and the second is emergency paid sick leave. These additions become effective 15 days after their enactment, and apply to nearly all employers that employ fewer than 500 employees. Under the FMLA leave, as expanded by the Act, covered employers will be required to allow 12 weeks of FMLA leave to certain employees impacted by
Concerned by Coronavirus? Drafting A Work From Home Policy For Your Business
With the anticipated spread of the COVID-19 looming, many employers are looking at work from home policies within their employee handbooks with a more critical eye. While most companies already have some of their workforce telecommunicating, most work from home policies are drafted for those few employees and not for circumstances in which the majority of employees will be working away from the office. A work from home policy is rarely boilerplate language, as it often needs to be adjusted to match its employer, but the below provisions are good additions to any existing policy: Eligibility - First, the policy
Epic Systems Did Not Take the National Labor Relations Board “Out of the Picture”
Employers must remain careful of their employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act. ____________________________________________________ We all know, don’t we, that last year the Supreme Court held, in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 584 U.S.____, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018), “that agreements containing class- and collective action waivers and stipulating that employment disputes are to be resolved by individualized arbitration do not violate the National Labor Relations Act [NLRA] and must be enforced as written pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act.” In re Cordua Restaurants, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 43 at p. 1 (August 14, 2019). So that being the case, employers are
CBD and Hemp in the Workplace
You may have seen a great deal lately about CBD oil and hemp products from food supplements to beauty aids, often with great promises for pain or anxiety relief. The wave of these products has many employers wondering whether they impact workplace drug policies and testing. CBD oil is a chemical compound derived from the Cannabis plant. Both hemp and marijuana are types of Cannabis. While hemp is now legal for many applications under federal law thanks to a statute passed by Congress in December 2018, marijuana remains illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act, just as it has been
Tennessee Court of Appeals rules that breaking workplace rules is not necessarily misconduct
In the recently decided Tennessee Credit Union v. Wanda Powell et al., the Tennessee Court of Appeals held that even a knowing violation of workplace rules does not constitute misconduct if the violation is made “in good faith.” Under Tennessee law, terminated employees are disqualified for unemployment benefits if they are found to have been discharged for “misconduct” connected with their work. Tennessee law defines misconduct as including “violation of an employer’s rule.” The law also specifically excludes violations resulting from “good faith errors in judgment.” In Tennessee Credit Union, Powell was terminated from her job at TCU for sending six hundred
This employer thought its attendance policy complied with the FMLA. It was wrong.
Employers who employ 50 or more employees know that compliance with the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is an exacting process, which requires close attention to the provisions of the Act and Department of Labor interpretations. A case decided earlier this month by the 6th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals, Dyer v. Ventura Sandusky, LLC, illustrates that even employers who try hard to comply can slip. Ventura Sandusky (“Ventura”) is an automotive supplier. Most of its employees are members of the United Auto Workers Local 1216, which has a Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”) with Ventura. The CBA
Employment Corner: Job Descriptions
Every employer, no matter how small, should prepare job descriptions for employees. Job descriptions are important. They are not specifically required by law or regulation. However, the essential functions of a job are often considered in many contexts such as questions involving disability status or leave. Job descriptions allow the employer to clarify what responsibility an employee has within the business and how the employee is expected to work. This information matters from the first interview through the end of a career. Descriptions allow the employer to define relationships and obligations between co-workers and departments and customers. They may describe educational,
“I just got fired, and it wasn’t fair. Can I sue my former employer?”
Employment lawyers hear this question pretty frequently. Getting fired rarely feels fair, and sometimes it really isn’t fair. But it does not always follow that the recently-ousted employee has a good legal case against his or her former employer. Generally, unless there is an employment contract or other binding document such as an employee handbook that gives the employee specific rights, there are only two reasons an employer might face legal consequences for an improper firing: Discrimination against an employee who is in a protected class Protected classes are defined by statute and include race, gender, age, religious belief, and disability. (At
Transgender Discrimination Held To Be Title VII Violation By Sixth Circuit
On March 7, 2018, in deciding EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc., a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that discrimination against transgender and transitioning status employees is necessarily a violation of Title VII. In Harris, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”) brought a Title VII action against a Michigan Funeral Home alleging that the employer had terminated an employee, Stephens, who was choosing to live as a woman in violation of Title VII. The Funeral Home had a gender-specific dress code, which required men to wear suits and for women to wear dresses, which was