In Pennsylvania, as in the majority of states, most employees are presumed to be employed “at will.” Under the at-will employment doctrine, an employer does not need “cause” to terminate an employment relationship. Rather, the employer may terminate an employee at any time, for any reason or no reason at all. (At the same time, the employee reserves the right to terminate his or her employment for any reason.) The only caveat is that the employer’s reason for termination cannot be an illegal one.

Federal and state statutes, as well as the courts, have created a number of exceptions to the doctrine of at-will employment. To be sure, an employee cannot be fired (or demoted, transferred, denied a promotion, or subject to any otherwise “adverse employment action”) on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability, among other things. In addition, under Pennsylvania law, certain employers may not terminate an employee who has reported that his or her employer is engaging in misconduct.

Such retaliation is prohibited by Pennsylvania’s Whistleblower Law, 43 P.S. § 1421 et seq.
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law Restricts Ability of Public Employers and Non-Profits to Terminate Employees

The year 2011 saw a number of employee-friendly changes to the laws governing the workplace. And Pennsylvania courts have not shied away from the action. In 2011, a Pennsylvania court upheld one of the largest awards in a wage and hour class action in the state’s history. In Braun v. Wal-Mart, the court awarded $187.6 million in back wages, damages, and fees to employees of Wal-Mart stores throughout Pennsylvania for paid rest breaks they were not permitted to take. Approximately 187,000 current and former hourly Wal-Mart employees claimed that the employee handbook promised paid rest breaks, but they were forced to work during those breaks and were not compensated for the missed breaks.

The employees brought their claims under Pennsylvania’s Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL). The WPCL does not entitle employees to wages or fringe benefits, but rather provides a remedy when an employer fails to pay for wages or benefits due under the terms of a contract or agreement. According to the court in Braun, payment associated with paid rest breaks pursuant to a contractual agreement between an employer and employee constitutes wages as that term is broadly defined in the WPCL. And the court ultimately found such a contractual agreement for paid rest breaks under the facts before it.
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Court Finds Employee Handbook Creates Contract, Upholds $187.6 Million Award

Let’s say that you are having a Holiday party (with alcohol served) at your home, or you are a business owner and you are having a voluntary “company” party for your employees. If someone becomes “visibly intoxicated” at your party, are you as the host of the party liable if the visibly intoxicated guest leaves your party and injures himself or someone else? Does your homeowners or commercial liability policy cover you for defense costs and for a settlement or judgment if you get sued? What about workers’ compensation coverage for your employees?

The answers are complicated, I’m afraid.
Continue Reading Are you liable for serving alcohol at holiday parties in Pennsylvania? Does your insurance policy cover you?

Homicide has consistently been one of the top four causes of work-related fatalities over the past decade, with an average of 590 incidents per year. Shockingly, in 2009, homicide was the leading cause of work-related death for women. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has addressed the hazard of workplace violence from time to time over the past fifteen years in various ways, including publication of specific guidelines for high-risk industries such as late-night retail, health care and social services. However, until now, there was no systematic approach to addressing this serious hazard.

The new OSHA Instruction regarding workplace violence does not change the law pertaining to workplace violence; however, it provides OSHA inspectors with a framework for analyzing this hazard in the workplace and for issuing citations under the general duty clause. Employers in industries with an inherent risk of violence, particularly those who employ workers that are exposed to the “known risk factors,” are well advised to study the OSHA Instruction and implement appropriate abatement measures.
Continue Reading OSHA Publishes Game Plan for Workplace Violence-Related Inspections

Earlier this year the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held that a worker who was fired after he informed his employer that he was proceeding with legal action against a co-worker may maintain an action against the employer under Pennsylvania’s Crime Victims’ Employment Protection Act.

This decision may come as a surprise to many Pennsylvania employers who may not have even been aware of the Act. Now, an employer must be careful when an employee informs it that he/she has been the victim of a crime, intends to report the crime to the police, and will attend court to pursue legal action.
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Act Protects Employees Who Report Crimes to Police

This post was contributed by Anthony D. Dick, Esq., an Associate and a member of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC’s Labor and Employment Practice Group in Columbus, Ohio.

The number of retaliation-based charges of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC") has doubled from approximately 18,000 to 36,000 in the last

Independent contractor arrangements have come under fire lately from both state and federal governments. Pennsylvania recently went a step further, enacting legislation governing independent contractor arrangements in the construction industry. On October 13, 2010, the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act (the “Act”) was signed into law. The Act provides criteria for classifying independent contractors within the construction industry and

In what the National Labor Relations Board’s (the "NLRB") Acting General Counsel called a "straightforward case" under the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), the Hartford Regional Office of the NLRB issued a Complaint (pdf) alleging that an employer illegally terminated an employee who posted disparaging remarks about her supervisor on her personal Facebook page. While

This post was contributed by Anthony D. Dick, Esq., an Associate and a member of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC’s Labor and Employment Practice Group in Columbus, Ohio.

Most employers have at least some basic understanding of the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) prohibition against discrimination on the basis of an employee’s disability. Fewer