Searching Employment Law on page 43

How Employers Can Help In these highly challenging times, employers are stepping up with much-needed financial wellness programs.

“When an employer interferes in any way with employees’ … right to display union insignia (whether through buttons, pins, stickers, shirts, hats, or any other accessories or attire), that interference is presumptively unlawful, and the employer has the burden to establish special circumstances that justify its interference.”

Refocusing M&A Retention Strategies To comply with noncompete rules and minimize risks of losing key employees, attorneys at Hunton Andrews Kurth recommend that employers take steps now to: ;Evaluate existing employee agreements and ensure they're tailored as appropriate to protect legitimate business interests, with new means of incentivizing performance and promoting retention.; ;Consider providing incentives through strategies like compensative-tied employment over a given time frame, equity rollovers or equity grants and consulting agreements with restrictive covenants (other than noncompetes).; The bottom line is that reliance on employment agreements such as noncompetes, which emphasize the “stick” approach to retaining employees, may shift to retention agreements that instead rely on “carrots” designed to influence the employee’s continued employment through compensation and other enticements.

Employers should verify that they are always following the law.”

;WorldatWork colleague Brett Christie developed the Pay Equity Laws by State online tool, which perfectly complements this edition of the Journal by offering the latest information on U.S. laws related to pay equity, pay transparency and salary history.; While those laws have spurred many organizations to act on pay transparency, they are not the only catalyst.

The largest private employer in the U.S. changed its wage structure for hourly workers in mid-July, according to documents reviewed by the Journal and store workers.

Added 139,00 Jobs in May; Unemployment Rate Unchanged According to the latest employment data released by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, June 6, the U.S. added 139,000 jobs in May, more than what economists expected.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Goes into Effect The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which requires that employers provide accommodations for pregnancy-related medical conditions is now law.

“The labor shortages forced employers into reactive compensation changes in 2021 and 2022, but it will be important for employers to be more proactive and strategic about compensation increases in 2023, particularly in light of pay equity concerns and a declining economy.”

Employer or worker obligations. ; Ideally, the policy will also allow tracking of workers’ movements to make sure the company is aware of their specific whereabouts, said Sean Darke, an employment and labor attorney at Dykema.