Editor’s Note

What happens when your former top-performing employee starts having attendance issues? You talk to the employee and document the verbal counseling. If it continues you might progress to a write-up. What happens when s/he tells you s/he has been diagnosed with depression, and is adjusting to medications? Your first thought might be to begin the interactive process and try to provide a reasonable accommodation pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
 

 
What if s/he says s/he needs some time off. You then continue trying to provide a modified schedule. Here’s where you may run into trouble — with the FMLA. What? Why? Can that really happen? This month’s cover article, How To Deal With An Employee's Disclosure of Depression by Janette Levey Frisch, offers an overview ofthe rights of an employee under FMLA and how employers must advise the employee of those rights.
 
2019 will continue to be a busy year for HR and employment law. From post-Brexit immigration rule changes and gender pay gap reporting, to age discrimination at work, employers are faced with amended employment laws and new deadlines for their organization to meet. Hayley Marles’ article,10 Changes To Look Out For In Employment Law, highlights ten important areas of the law that HR professionals and business owners need to be aware of.
 
In a major positive development for gig economy businesses, the U.S. Department of Labor today issued an opinion letter confirming that certain workers providing work for a virtual marketplace company are, indeed, independent contractors. While this letter can only be used as an authoritative legal defense by the specific (unnamed) gig economy business that requested the letter, this publication still provides the federal government’s official interpretation on whether a certain business model or practice complies with the law. Read Sean Kirby and Jamie Moelis’ article, Pre-Employment Drug-Testing Policies, to understand how the current USDOL views the misclassification question and will approach it from an enforcement perspective.
 
By 2050, food production will have to increase by 70%. This intense demand is contributing to the unique labor problems that food and beverage manufacturers are facing. How To Manage The 3 Most Pressing Workforce Challenges by Brandon Schwarz, talks about the main concerns, along with some helpful tips to make your workforce management robust enough to combat them.
 
This is not all! This month’s issue of HR Legal & Compliance Excellence is packed with top trending topics in the legal and compliance arena, and infused with information on new policies and laws to arm you and your employees to stay compliant and safe.