Employment Law Alert March 2010 (pdf)

Contents at a glance:
- Federal Law on Break for Mothers Who Breastfeed.
- Second Extension of 65% COBRA Premium Subsidy.

LEGAL ALERT Developments for employers in Puerto Rico, December 2009 (pdf)

Contents at a glance:
New DOL poster that incorporates the requirements of the Genetic Information Non Discrimination Act of 2008, whose employment provisions came into force last November 21, 2009

Family and Medical Leave Act Amendments to military caregiver and qualified exigency leave provisions - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (the "NDAA 2010")

Family and Medical Leave Act Amendment to clarify coverage for flight crew members - Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) expiration of reduced premium benefit, new DOL Q&A and upcoming extension

Overhaul of Puerto Rico’s Closing Law

Employment Law Update January 2008 (pdf)

Contents at a glance:
DEVELOPMENTS IN PUERTO RICO LAW (Page 2)
Wage and Hour: Employers can finally require employees to submit to electronic methods of payment and send them their pay-stub via electronic means rather than paper, though they now must disclose to them the risks of electronic fraud.
Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding can no longer considered indecent exposure, obscene conduct or otherwise punishable conduct.

COURTS ON POINT (Page 3 to 6)
Sexual Harassment and Affairs at Work: Consensual workplace affairs can be very costly for employers subject to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which includes Puerto Rico: that Court has decided that the fact that harassment is motivated by the hostility of a failed consensual relationship is no defense against a sexual harassment claim under Title VII.
Wage and Hour: Two incidents of pay-docking are not enough to prove that the employer had an actual practice of effecting salary deductions that would defeat an employee’s exempt status, according to the US First Circuit Court of Appeals, so that an employee whose duties entailed overall customer satisfaction did not lose his otherwise exempt status.
FMLA picks: If an employee becomes belligerent, suffers an anxiety attack, takes leave, files an OSHA complaint and then a police report, all because a stray dog wandered into her office, is the behavior so bizarre so that the employer should know that she is in need of FMLA leave?
WARN: Creative employer was able to cut short WARN penalties by extending the employment relationship until laid off employees found job with successor.

ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENTS (Page 6 to 8)
New I-9 Form: A revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) is available. The new form eliminates several documents from the list of those an employer can use to confirm identity and identify eligibility.
Use of Employer Email for Union Business: In a significant victory for employers that furthers their rights to limit employee use of employer-provided computer systems, the NLRB has held that employees are not entitled to use the employer’s electronic mail system to promote union activities. There is one major caveat: employers who selectively discipline employees who use their system for union activity may still face liability.
Employee Testing and Screening: Employers who use tests or other objective selection criteria to screen job applicants or grant promotions should take a look at the new EEOC Fact Sheet on employment tests and selection procedures.
Occupational Safety: OSHA’s final rule on employee’s personal protective equipment (PPE) confirms that employers must pay for most of it.

Employment Law Alert June 2008 (pdf)

Contents at a glance:
- NEW PERMISSIBLE SALARY DEDUCTION TO BENEFIT UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO.
- JOB ADVERTISEMENTS MAY ENCOURAGE MINORITY APPLICATIONS BUT MAY NOT EXPRESSLY SEEK PERSONS ON A PROTECTED BASIS.
- NEW FEDERAL LAW PROHIBITS EMPLOYMENT AND INSURANCE DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF GENETIC INFORMATION

Employment Law Alert June 2007 (pdf)

Contents at a glance:
Alert on Legal and Judicial Developments for Employers in Puerto Rico
- Federal minimum wage hike silences local attempts to increase the Puerto Rico minimum wage.
- Federal law might catch up with Puerto Rico laws that address the effects of domestic violence in the workplace.