As fall approaches, many employers are preparing to offer flu vaccinations to their employees. In most work settings, this is a voluntary benefit that employees may choose to accept or not, based on their own personal beliefs regarding such vaccinations. In the healthcare sector and more particularly within hospital settings, there has been a growing […]

I have posted twice since the beginning of this year [February 18, 2016] and [May 20, 2016] concerning upcoming changes in federal wage and hour laws. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guarantees covered workers a minimum hourly wage and overtime pay at a rate of 1.5 times their base hourly rate for hours worked […]

In the last year, I have twice posted on the topic of whether federal statutory protections against discrimination on account of “sex” will be extended to claims of sexual orientation discrimination. [10/29/15 and 3/21/16 posts] This topic became a regular subject of discussion among employment law practitioners and their clients following the U.S. Supreme Court’s […]

In April 2016 Governor Haslam signed a bill that became effective September 1, 2016, which will likely increase the number of wage garnishments with which many Tennessee employers will have to contend. This is particularly true for employers that make regular use of independent contractor workers. A wage garnishment is a debt collection process set […]

Before 2011, Tennessee employers only had to worry about federal immigration law requirements for verifying employee eligibility to work. Beginning in 1986, employers were required by federal law to have all newly hired employees complete a Form I-9 and provide one of several possible documents to prove U.S. citizenship or lawful presence in the United […]