By Julie Proscia – SmithAmundsen LLC – www.salawus.com On Memorial Day Weekend, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced an initiative to focus more on the safety and health of temporary workers after a recent spate of temporary worker fatalities. This initiative is now being put into action. Assistant Secretary of Labor, David Michaels, made the announcement by releasing a memoran ...

By Jeff Glass – SmithAmundsen LLC – www.salawus.com Employers who use restrictive covenants to protect their client base should take heed of the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District’s decision in Gastroenterology Consultants of the North Shore, S.C. v. Meiselman, M.D., et al. In 1996, defendant Dr. Meiselman formed the plaintiff corporation with three other doctors. All agreed to non-competes tha ...

By Jacqueline Lentini McCullough – SmithAmundsen LLC – www.salawus.com On April 30, 2013, Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) began automating the issuance of Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record for foreign nationals entering the United States by eliminating the paper form I-94. The form I-94 will be available in an electronic format for foreign national nonimmigrants arriving by air and sea, and does not ...

By Karuna Brunk – SmithAmundsen LLC – www.salawus.com On May 8, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court and held that if a job requires punctual attendance, a flexible work schedule is not a reasonable accommodation. Rebecca Murphy filed a suit against her former employer Samson Resources Company alleging that Samson violated the Americans w ...

By Nancy E. Joerg, Esq., Managing Shareholder – St. Charles Office, Wessels Sherman Joerg Liszka Laverty Seneczko P.C., St. Charles, Illinois, (630) 377-1554,  najoerg@wesselssherman.com, www.wesselssherman.com Many Illinois trucking companies who use independent contractor owner-operators are well aware that if they are ever audited by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) [the state agency ...

by Jeffrey A. Risch - SmithAmundsen LLC – www.salawus.com In line with a minority but growing trend, on May 13, 2013 Minnesota enacted the Criminal Background Check Act.  The new law, effective January 1, 2014, restricts an employer’s ability to request any criminal history (including actual convictions) from a job applicant.  The new law allows employers to only consider or require disclosure of an applica ...

By: Jeffrey A. Risch, Esq., Labor & Employment Practice Chair, SmithAmundsen LLC, jrisch@salawus.com On May 7, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) regulation requiring businesses to post notices of worker rights to engage in pro-union activities, or be subject to punishment, violates federal labor law. (Nat’l Ass’n of ...

by Jon Hoag – SmithAmundsen LLC – www.salawus.com Once again, the court has reiterated that employers can avoid liability by promptly investigating and remedying claims of harassment.  In Jensen v. Styrolution Am. LLC, Judge Guzman of the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a retaliation and harassment complaint against the employer based on proof that the employer took prompt remedial action when it le ...