Author Archives: Jay Butchko
New Study Highlights Disturbing Weight Discrimination in the Workplace
A recently-released study by the University of Strathclyde and published in PLOS One reveals that women face severe weight-based prejudice in the workplace, even when their body mass index (BMI) is within what is considered to be the “healthy” range. This inherent employment discrimination reveals that, in particular, when it comes to industries in… Read More »
Challenges To The New Overtime Rules
We have previously posted about the new federal overtime guidelines set to go into effect on December 1, 2016. While millions of workers throughout the United States have been anxiously awaiting new overtime rights, many employers, legislators, and employer advocacy groups have been aggressively trying to fight the new overtime rules in any way… Read More »
Florida Labor Complaint Moves Forward
In September, the Public Employees Relation Commission (PERC) ruled that a complaint filed by Gulf District School officials via the Gulf County Education Association (GCEA) alleging unfair labor practices can move forward. Specifically, PERC found that there was enough evidence such that a factual decision could be made to address whether or not there… Read More »
Is Your Employment At Will?
When you are hired at a new company, you would imagine the terms of your employment should be fairly clear. However, you would likely be surprised at how many people are unsure of whether they are employed “at will.” At-will employment means that either you or your employer can decide to end the employment… Read More »
Pregnancy Discrimination Can Result in Substantial Verdicts
Decades ago, many employers regularly discriminated against women who were pregnant or who may have become pregnant, as it was wrongfully expected that pregnancy and childbirth would interfere with their work. However, at the time, there was little the employees could do as there were few protections for pregnant women in the workplace. In… Read More »
How Employers Should React to the Zika Virus
Many headlines in recent months have been about a virus called Zika reaching the United States. Zika is widely associated with traveling to certain tropical regions of the world, but now cases have regularly been showing up in U.S. hospitals. This also means that people with Zika may be present in our workplaces and… Read More »
Maternity Leave Rights in Florida
Many states have set out laws that provide a certain number of weeks of family and medical leave for a new mother without fear of losing her job. California, Rhode Island, and New Jersey even provide for paid maternity leave and New York will provide paid leave effective in 2018. Florida, however, has no… Read More »
What Laws Protect Employees From Discrimination?
Employment law is a complicated area of law that involves many different statutes and regulations. Many employment laws are in place with the intention of protecting employees from unlawful discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wrongful termination. The following are only some examples of employment laws that provide the right to be free from discrimination and… Read More »
Can Work Dress Codes be Unlawful?
It is just a fact that some jobs require certain clothing or gear to keep the workplace sanitary and the employees safe. For this reason, many employers adopt some kind of dress code policy that governs what their workers can and cannot wear on the job. For example, a large law firm can require… Read More »
Your Rights When Applying For A Job
You should know that, as an employee in Florida, you have certain rights under the law. Such rights include the right against unlawful discrimination and harassment based on your race, religion, gender, disability, age, and other protected factors. In addition, employers may not retaliate against you with an adverse employment action if you complain… Read More »
Robert S. Norell, Esq. became a member of the Florida Bar in 1994 and has represented hundreds of clients in all types of employment law cases for the past 20+ years.