A recent Massachusetts court ruling provides guidance on whether an employer’s denial of a request for a schedule change as a reasonable accommodation violated the ADA and Massachusetts anti-discrimination laws.
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Can an employer can force an employee to get a vaccine or can an employer force an employee to wear a face mask? To answer these questions, one must resort to an analysis of state and federal laws prohibiting disability discrimination and religious discrimination.
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The COVID-19 outbreak has changed many employment-related rules, including those that relate to what types of questions an employer may ask their employee or prospective employee regarding potential exposure to COVID-19.
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The US Department of Labor issued guidance to employees on the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act both part of the recently passed Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
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Massachusetts employees may be entitled to paid or unpaid medical leave or sick leave due to COVID-19 related quarantine, suspected illness or diagnosed illness, caring for a sick family member, or caring for a child at home due to COVID-19 related closures.
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This week the federal government passed two laws providing important protections to employees during the COVID-19 outbreaks: the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act.
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Our Junior Associate, Flo, was caught possibly abusing medical leave. We walk you through Steffans Legal’s subsequent workplace investigation and decision making as to whether or not we could discipline or terminate her employment for the alleged abuse of medical leave.
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Yesterday, Flo came to our management team requesting a workplace accommodation for a recently diagnosed illness she is suffering from. Let’s walk through whether she is covered under any employment laws and if so what we should consider when deciding whether we can accommodate her request.
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The Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as its Massachusetts state law equivalent, prohibit employers from discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Those laws, unlike other anti-discrimination laws, also require employers to provide disabled employees with reasonable accommodations so that they may perform their job duties.
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The First Circuit, in the case of Miceli v. JetBlue Airways Corp. et al. recently provided helpful guidance to employers and employees when it comes to one of the most difficult areas of employment law: leaves of absence resulting from mental impairments.
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By now, most of you have probably read about the bill signed into law by Governor Charlie Baker, colloquially referred to as the Grand Bargain. By any measure, this bill is surely “grand” in that it dramatically changes three important areas of employment law.
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The workplace can be a breeding ground for flu-related illnesses. A 2018 survey estimated the cost to employers of the 2017-2018 flu season to be around $9.42 billion. Employees who come to work sick, get others sick. Sick employees are less productive employees. To address this, can an employer require employees to get flu shots? Not surprisingly, the answer is not simple.
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According to a 2016 Society of Human Resources Management report, 7% of employers allow dogs in the workplace. Many of our employer clients have begun to allow their employees to bring dogs to work. We think that’s a pretty good idea for the very same reasons we have two in our workplace.
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Prior to July 17, 2017, most employers in Massachusetts assumed that they could terminate an employee who tested positive for marijuana, even if they were licensed to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.
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