In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit’s grant of a preliminary injunction on President Donald Trump’s September 2017 proclamation – Proclamation No. 9645, more commonly known as the “travel ban.” Proclamation 9645 restricted entry into the United States by citizens of Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Chad (subsequently removed from the list), Libya, Yemen and Venezuela.… Read More...
Proposed Termination of International Entrepreneur Parole Program
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Department) recently issued a notice proposing to terminate the international entrepreneur parole program (IE Program) in accordance with Executive Order 13767, entitled Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements, because the IE Program represents an overly broad interpretation of the Department’s parole authority, lacks sufficient protections for U.S.… Read More...
Recent Changes to USCIS Policies May Impact Foreign Students
In May 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) made two changes affecting foreign students – (1) calculating unlawful presence for students in the U.S. and (2) third-party placements for STEM OPT students.
Calculating Unlawful Presence
“Unlawful presence” in the U.S.… Read More...
South Carolina Pregnancy Accommodations Act
The South Carolina Pregnancy Accommodations Act, found here, was signed into law on Friday, May 18, 2018. The Act amends the South Carolina Human Affairs Law. In passing the legislation, the General Assembly stated,
It is the intent of the General Assembly by this act to combat pregnancy discrimination, promote public health, and ensure full and equal participation for women in the labor force by requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees for medical needs arising from pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.… Read More...
Using Offer Letters Correctly
South Carolina is an employment at will state. This means that, absent a written contract guaranteeing employment, employers are free to terminate employees at any time, without notice, for any reason (so long as that reason does not violate another law of course!).… Read More...
Legal Measures for Protecting Employees from Workplace Violence
Workplace violence is high on every HR professional’s list of worst nightmares regardless of the source – an employee, former employee, angry customer, or random third party. Of course, there are a host of security measures employers can undertake in an effort to prevent or mitigate violent incidents on their premises.… Read More...
Join us for our upcoming Employment Law Seminars
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd’s Employment Group is pleased to announce the schedule for our upcoming Employment Law Seminars.
HR professionals are invited to join us for a program that will cover current issues in Employment law in a fast-paced, plain-English way. These complimentary seminars qualify for 3.0 hours of continuing education credit with CLE, SHRM and HRCI credits available.… Read More...
YouTube Shooting Raises Questions on Firearms in the Workplace
Following the April 3, 2018 YouTube workplace violence tragedy, many news sources reported that there were 500 workplace homicides in 2016, the most recent workplace homicide statistic from the Bureau of Labor Statistic. The Bureau of Labor report, found here, noted this was “an increase of 83 cases from 2015” and that the “2016 total was the highest [number of workplace homicides] since 2010.” The report also revealed that 409 (82 percent) were homicides to men and 91 (18 percent) were homicides to women.” Further, “homicides represented 24 percent of fatal occupational injuries to women in 2016 compared with 9 percent of fatal occupational injuries to men.”
Gun-related tragedies are foremost on our minds due to the number of mass shooting tragedies occurring in our schools, at music events, in certain areas of the country, as well as other gun-related deaths.… Read More...
Congress Addresses Who Can Share Tips
The 2018 federal appropriations bill signed into law on March 23rd includes an addition to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) stating that “[a]n employer may not keep tips received by its employees for any purposes, including allowing managers or supervisors to keep any portion of employees’ tips, regardless of whether or not the employer takes a tip credit.” The amendment also nullifies certain regulations issued by the Department of Labor in 2011, including regulations which prohibited an employer from using an employee’s tips as part of an invalid tip pool even where the employer was paying the employees the full minimum wage without utilizing a tip credit.… Read More...
Employer Policies Involving the Flu Vaccine and Discrimination Under Title VII
According to the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”), the United States experiences a flu season each year. With this year’s flu season considered one of the worst since the 2009-2010 pandemic, many employers wish to implement policies to protect the workplace and wonder whether they can implement policies mandating vaccination for their employees.… Read More...