Retail Labor and Employment Law

Retail Labor and Employment Law

News, Updates, and Insights for Retail Employers

Monthly Archives: January 2013

Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

EBG Provides a Wage and Hour Division Investigation Checklist for Retail Employers

Epstein Becker Green is pleased to announce the availability of a Wage and Hour Division Investigation Checklist, which provides retail employers with valuable information about wage and hour investigations and audits conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Like EBG’s first-of-its kind Wage and Hour App, which provides detailed information about federal and state laws, the Checklist is a free resource offered by EBG.

The Checklist provides step-by-step guidance on the following issues: preparation before a Wage and Hour Division investigation of the DOL; preliminary investigation issues; document production; on-site inspection activities; employee interviews; and back-wage findings, … Continue Reading

Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Five Actions Employers Should Consider Taking to Comply with the Affordable Care Act

By Greta Ravitsky

I wrote the January 2013 edition of Take 5: Views You Can Use, a newsletter published by the Labor and Employment practice of Epstein Becker Green.

In it, I summarize five actions that employers should consider taking in 2013 as the DOL steps up its audit efforts under the leadership of the reenergized Obama administration,

  1. Assess the Workforce
  2. Choose Whether to “Pay” or to “Play”
  3. Evaluate Existing Wellness Programs and/or Implement New Wellness Programs to Enhance Employees’ Health Profiles and to Avoid or Minimize the “Cadillac Tax”
  4. Understand and Be Ready to Comply with New Tax-Related
    5. … Continue Reading
Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Forever 21 May Pursue Employment Claim in Arbitration

By Amy Messigian

Last month, the California Court of Appeal ruled that a former employee of Forever 21 must try her claims against the retailer in arbitration, enforcing the company’s employment arbitration policy and reversing a lower court decision finding the agreement unconscionable under California law.  The plaintiff, Maribel Baltazar, alleged that she had been discriminated against by the retailer due to her race and sexually harassed by a supervisor and coworker.  She filed a complaint against Forever 21 and several of its employees in the Los Angeles Superior Court and the retailer moved to compel Baltazar to arbitration.

Reversing … Continue Reading

Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

New York Employers Must Issue Annual Wage Notices Under the Wage Theft Prevention Act

For the second time since the enactment of New York’s Wage Theft Prevention Act (“WTPA”), New York employers must issue a written annual notice and acknowledgment of pay rates and pay dates (“Notice”) to all New York employees between January 1, 2013, and February 1, 2013.

In February 2012, after a flurry of negative feedback from employers statewide, the New York State Senate passed a bill striking the annual Notice requirement from the list of employer responsibilities set forth in Section 195.1 of the New York State Labor Law. However, because the bill remains dormant in the New York State … Continue Reading

Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Affordable Care Act Webinar, January 9 – To Pay or To Play: An Analysis of the Shared Responsibility Rules

Please join Epstein Becker Green’s Health Care & Life Sciences and Labor & Employment practitioners as we continue to review the Affordable Care Act and its ongoing impact on retail employers and their group health plans.

In less than a year, retail employers employing at least 50 full-time employees will be subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions. Under these provisions, if retail employers do not offer health coverage or do not offer affordable health coverage that provides a minimum level of value to their full-time employees, they may be subject to a tax penalty under the proposed regulations just … Continue Reading

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