Labor and Employment Law Commons^™

From Models To Mannequins: The Oxymoronic Equation Of International Labor Law Standards In The World Of Fashion, Namrata Bhowmik, Naman Anand

Cleveland State Law Review

Fashion law is an emerging field that addresses the legal issues that arise in the fashion industry. With the rapid growth and globalization of the fashion industry, there is an increasing need for specialized legal guidance in this area. Fashion law encompasses a wide range of legal issues, including intellectual property, contract law, employment law, international trade law, and environmental law.

One of the main drivers behind the need for fashion law is the rise of counterfeiting and intellectual property theft in the fashion industry. With the proliferation of ecommerce and social media, it has become easier than ever for …

Prostitution And Pornography: Reforming A Perspective, Mayce Combs

Helm's School of Government Conference

Happiness is a subjective emotion that can quickly be twisted by the depravity of humanity’s sinful nature. Human trafficking deprives an individual’s natural right to life, liberty, and their pursuit to happiness. Of the two divisions of human trafficking, sex trafficking, especially involving children, is the most despicable and most evolved. The United States and further the state of Virginia is a crucial player in combating human trafficking. While there are currently many successful tactics state governments and nonprofit groups are utilizing in order eliminate human trafficking there are further more intense strategies the Virginia State Government should implement. One …

More Than They Bargained For: Ab 257 And An Alternative Approach To Labor Law In California's Fast-Food Industry, Alex Reid

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Whistleblower Protection Under The False Claims Act: Providing Former Employee Inclusion, Nathaniel Kinman

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rationing Retaliation Claims, Daiquiri J. Steele

UC Irvine Law Review

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the rising number of workplace retaliation claims is a problem, one warranting more stringent requirements for employees to successfully bring claims. The Court’s principal justification for this restrictive approach is a fear of “opening the floodgates” of litigation. This Article critically assesses the Court’s fear of opening the floodgates of retaliation claims, evaluates the Court’s evidence, and argues that such concerns are overstated and misplaced. Rather than a cause for concern, the rise in retaliation claims reflects rising intra-organizational conflict. Social scientists have demonstrated that, as the American workforce becomes more diverse, intra-organizational conflict …

Know When To Hold Them, When To Fold Them, And When To Walk Away: Tiktoks Are Professional Sports Franchises' Ace In Collective Bargaining Negotiations, Angelica Varona

Pepperdine Law Review

TikTok, the social media app, has become both a central force in entertainment, creating a slew of influencers and young celebrities, as well as an important tool in all things branding and marketing. Athletes have recognized the value of social media and fan engagement and have taken to becoming content-creators on the platform. The growing presence of professional athletes on the app brings up important issues of copyrightability and ownership of the content they are producing. This Comment considers the nature of athlete content-creation on TikTok as well as the employment scheme and contractual responsibilities that form a part of …

Between Risk Mitigation And Labour Rights Enforcement: Assessing The Transatlantic Race To Govern Ai-Driven Decision-Making Through A Comparative Lens, Valerio De Stefano, Antonio Aloisi

Articles & Book Chapters

In this article, we provide an overview of efforts to regulate the various phases of the artificial intelligence (AI) life cycle. In doing so, we examine whether—and, if so, to what extent—highly fragmented legal frameworks are able to provide safeguards capable of preventing the dangers that stem from AI- and algorithm-driven organisational practices. We critically analyse related developments at the European Union (EU) level, namely the General Data Protection Regulation, the draft AI Regulation, and the proposal for a Directive on improving working conditions in platform work. We also consider bills and regulations proposed or adopted in the United States …

Employer Tuition Assistance: Current Approaches And The Application Of The Implied Covenant Of Good Faith And Fair Dealing, Jordan T. Krieger

Northwestern University Law Review

American corporations are increasingly expanding tuition reimbursement programs, potentially improving access to higher education for American workers. Yet, despite their increasing availability, only 2% of employees, as a percentage of those interested in pursuing further education, are utilizing these reimbursement programs. For those employees who do make use of these reimbursement programs, they may face unexpected challenges to accessing judicial remedies if a dispute arises.

This Note takes an interdisciplinary approach to first explore employee risks and employer incentives under tuition reimbursement programs. On the employee side, a worker risks premature termination by expressing an interest in tuition reimbursement because …

Regulating Ai At Work: Labour Relations, Automation, And Algorithmic Management, Valerio De Stefano, Virginia Doellgast

Articles & Book Chapters

Recent innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) have been at the core of massive technological changes that are transforming work. AI is now widely used to automate business processes and replace labour-intensive tasks while changing the skill demands for those that remain. AI-based tools are also deployed to invasively monitor worker conduct and to automate HR management processes.

Through the dual lens of comparative labour law and employment relations research, the articles in this special issue of Transfer investigate the role of collective bargaining and government policy in shaping strategies to deploy new digital and AI-based technologies at work. Together, they …

Following In California’S Footsteps?: Pennsylvania Eliminates The De Minimis Exception In State Wage And Hour Claims, Lauren E. Stahl

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), employers risk receiving wage and hour violations if they fail to compensate employees for all “hours worked” or fail to adhere to minimum wage and overtime requirements. The de minimis doctrine provides an exception to this general rule and excuses employers from compensating employees for insignificant amounts of time spent on otherwise compensable off-the-clock work activities. Examples of de minimis off-the-clock work activities include waiting for a computer to load or waiting to log onto a computer network. These activities are considered de minimis because they take only a minute or less, and …

It’S About Time: Rejection Of The De Minimis Doctrine In State Wage And Hour Laws, Abigail Britton

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Since the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) in 1938, courts have grappled with how to interpret which activities an employee performs for their employer should be considered “work.” The FLSA requires employers pay a minimum wage, pay overtime, and keep records of their employees’ time. However, to calculate these wages based on hours worked, the employer must know what constitutes “work.” Over the 80 years since its enactment, federal courts have adopted rules to determine what counts as work. One doctrine courts apply is the de minimis doctrine. Under the de minimis doctrine, employers do not need …

Independent Contractors & Noncompetition Covenants: A Modified Approach, Matthew J. Sandor

Fordham Law Review

This Note examines the way in which noncompetition covenants should be applied to independent contractors. An increasing portion of the American labor force is now employed outside the traditional employer-employee context. Today, nearly sixty million American workers are categorized as independent contractors, with many subject to noncompetition covenants that restrict their ability to participate in the labor market freely. In response to this dramatic change, state courts and legislatures have used a variety of approaches in enforcing noncompetes in the independent contractor context. These approaches run the gamut, with some states liberally construing noncompetes against independent contractors while others have …

House Bill 1316 & Senate Bill 0538: Paid Leave For Adoptive And Foster Parents, Lilia Zylstra, Caroline Shutley, Sydney Reyes, Evelyn Mankowski

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

House Bill 1316 and its companion Senate Bill 0538 propose that employees of the state of Tennessee should be allotted up to 6 weeks paid leave if they become a foster parent to a minor or adopt a minor. To better understand HB 1316 and SB 0538 from a social work perspective, it is vital to examine how the proposed bill promotes the importance of human relationships, the dignity and worth of a person, and social justice—while also recognizing where the bill has room for growth. This study of HB1316 will provide an in-depth analysis of the bill from a …

Transforming The Future Of Work By Embracing Corporate Social Justice, Andrea Giampetro-Meyer

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Professionals from Generations Y (millennials) and Z (Gen Z or zoomers) expect their employers to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). They want to work for companies that support individuals of various races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, genders, and sexual orientations. Professionals from these generations are seeking employers that have created a diverse workforce, clear promotion track, and a commitment to dismantling systemic racism. Companies that want to attract top talent are making DEI a priority. They are also implementing action plans to demonstrate their serious commitment to DEI because millennials and zoomers are quick to recognize and criticize performative approaches. …

Religious Ministers And The Scope Of Their Rights To Non-Discrimination In Employment, R. George Wright

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

The First Amendment is currently thought to bar ministerial employees from any recourse against their religious employer under a wide variety of non-discrimination statutes and other forms of legal protection. The typical critique of this state of affairs seeks to narrow the class of persons who count as ministerial employees. This paper focuses instead on an important, and peculiar, aspect of the ministerial exception doctrine. At present, the law generally prohibits any recovery by ministerial employees for employment discrimination by their religious employer even where the employer’s reasons for the discrimination have nothing to do with any religious doctrine, belief, …

Utah Antidiscrimination Efforts: Shortcomings, Challenges, And The Way Forward, Greta L. Asay

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Despite being a pro-business state, Utah is not considered employee-friendly; employment discrimination is prevalent, in spite of the state and federal laws in place to protect against it. The state agency that is in place to safeguard employees against unlawful discrimination is the Utah Antidiscrimination and Labor Division (UALD), established by the Utah Antidiscrimination Act (UADA). While the UALD has the potential to be a powerful legal guardrail for employees, it currently is not fulfilling this potential. This paper explores the shortcomings of the UALD and argues that changes should be made to strengthen the authority of the UADA.

The Gig-Economy War: The Drive Towards Regulating Rideshare Employment Misclassification, Inae Cavalcante

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

With the emergence of the gig-economy, the doctrine distinguishing independent contractors from employees has never been more relevant in the state of California. Currently, the state faces a legal battle regarding employment misclassification of rideshare apps’ drivers, specifically Uber Technologies. While many believe that drivers should be entitled to the label of employee and receive benefits and protections under the California Labor Code, the law is not tailored to this new market and renders itself ambiguous. Although many solutions were presented in the past, such as the Borello Test, the ABC Test, Assembly Bill 5, and Proposition 22, no employment …

Dropping The Ball: How The Growth Of Legalized Sports Betting Threatens The Nil Rights Of Collegiate Athletes, Peter Klensch

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

One of the more storied runs in college basketball history happened in 2014 when the seven-seeded University of Connecticut Huskies (“UConn”) made the Final Four and defeated the University of Kentucky Wildcats to win the Division I Men’s College Basketball Tournament. As the second-lowest seed ever to win the Tournament, the focus should have been on UConn’s celebration in Storrs, Connecticut. Instead, the national media was drawn to comments made by UConn’s star point-guard, Shabazz Napier, who said that he sometimes went to bed “starving.”

The remarks caught the immediate attention of state legislators in Connecticut. Representative Matthew Lesser …

Climate Discrimination, Duane Rudolph

Catholic University Law Review

This Article focuses on the coming legal plight of workers in the United States, who will likely face discrimination as they search for work outside their home states. The Article takes for granted that climate change will have forced those workers across state and international boundaries, a reality dramatically witnessed in the United States during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. During that environmental emergency (and the devastation it wrought), workers were forced across boundaries only to be violently discriminated against upon arrival in their new domiciles. Such discrimination is likely to recur, and it will threaten the livelihoods of …

California Restaurant Workers Seeking Justice At The Workplace, Victoria Chan

GGU Law Review Blog

According to a finding by the Economic Policy Institute, about $2 billion in wages are stolen from workers in California every year. A report by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) found that over 1 in 10 workers in California are paid less than the state minimum wage. To an individual worker, the stolen wages can equal more than two months’ rent, three months of childcare, and nearly a year’s worth of groceries for themselves and their family. These workers are oftentimes people of color, women, and immigrants in the restaurant industry.