Worldwide: Employment Litigation/ Tribunals

Wage and hour litigation is surging across the United States, with Washington State emerging as a high-exposure target for meal and rest break class actions, while approximately 20 states navigate increasingly complex and inconsistent break requirements. Employers face mounting challenges from off-the-clock lawsuits, expanding pay transparency laws in about 20 jurisdictions, and evolving interpretations of compensable time that are costing companies millions in settlements.

The Fifth Circuit recently confirmed that hybrid compensation arrangements combining fixed salaries with variable day-rate pay can satisfy the Fair Labor Standards Act's salary basis test. This decision clarifies that employers can provide substantial additional compensation on top of a guaranteed salary without jeopardizing overtime exemptions, as long as the base salary is genuinely predetermined and calculated on a weekly or less frequent basis.

Crowell's Rebecca Springer and Katie Erno analyze the U.S. Supreme Court's recent rulings in Trump v. Slaughter and West Virginia v. BPJ, examining their implications for workplace policies and employer obligations. This Lightning Round episode delivers essential insights into how these landmark decisions will shape employment law practices moving forward.

A social media trend reveals how tone and context shape workplace communication. When emails become evidence in legal proceedings, words must stand alone without the benefit of tone or facial expressions, making clarity and professionalism essential in all written workplace communications.

A federal court in Texas denied class certification for FBI employees challenging the Bureau's COVID-19 vaccine mandate religious exemption process, finding that individualized questions about harms and circumstances predominated over common issues. The ruling examined three proposed classes—a disparate impact class, a failure to accommodate subclass, and a constructive discharge subclass—and determined that the varying consequences experienced by putative class members precluded certification u

Ohio employers face a distinct layer of financial and operational risk when a Violation of Specific Safety Requirements (VSSR) is alleged in workers' compensation cases. These constitutionally authorized penalties can add 15-50% to claim costs and continue to compound as underlying claims evolve, making early investigation and coordinated legal strategy essential to controlling exposure.

The NLRB's 2023 Cemex decision fundamentally transformed union recognition procedures, shifting the burden from unions to employers when faced with bargaining demands. This framework departure from decades of established labor law practice may now be facing its end, with significant implications for how employers respond to union organizing efforts.

Kate Mueting, Firm Administrative Partner and Discrimination and Harassment Practice Group Co-Chair at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, discusses her professional journey with firm Chairman David Sanford. She reflects on formative experiences including judicial clerkships and her decision to dedicate her career to employment discrimination and harassment law, offering insights into representing clients facing workplace crises.

On May 28, 2026, in Flowers Foods, Inc. v. Brock, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided that workers who transport goods on an intrastate leg of an interstate journey may qualify for the Federal Arbitration Act...