The first day back from vacation is always fun.

And by fun, I mean “not fun AT ALL.”

There’s the e-mails. And the voicemails. And the things that you should’ve gotten done before vacation that you really honestly tried to do, but well, you just couldn’t.

And then there’s the news and other “information” that you missed.

That’s what Monday morning is shaping up to be for me.

But here’s the thing: With technology, it’s too easy to keep up with your life. Looking at Twitter. Reading some articles.  Even when you’re out of the country, wifi is everywhere.

What I found out during my time “off” is that, more than ever, I seem to hear a lot more “noise” about employment law on social media, via e-mail newsletters, and newspapers.

Everyone seems to be screaming with headlines about how things are going to “dramatically” change for employers. Or that employers “must” pay attention”. Or some other nonsense.

It’s a lot like a waterfall I visited on vacation. It just keeps coming with a constant stream of noise (and water, of course.)

Yes, I walked the bridge.
Yes, I walked the bridge.

For example, the EEOC released a ruling on sexual orientation that attempts to expand job protections nationwide for that protected class even though Congress has attempted (and failed) to pass a law that would do the same thing.

Except, it shouldn’t change much of anything in Connecticut because we have had those protections thankfully for many years already. But you wouldn’t know that from articles which gloss over that fact.

And after a few days on vacation, I just sort of checked out from all that noise.  Kind of liberating.

I read more on my Kindle and less and less on Twitter.   (Strongly recommend “Boys in the Boat” about a University of Washington Crew Team and the 1936 Olympics.)

Maybe that’s what we all need for a little while too.

In fact, you may have noticed a few less posts on here recently.  That’s somewhat purposeful. I think the trend from lawfirms is to publish posts on blogs on nearly everything nowadays whether it is “news” or not.

As a result, there seems to be a lot less perspective being shared and more scare tactics and more alerts than ever.

The fact is that as an employer in Connecticut some things have changed, but a lot hasn’t.  Yes, we need to be more alert on misclassification issues, but really, that isn’t new. You need to be worried about your interns, but again, that isn’t new either and their use should be limited anyways.

And for all the bluster on proposed changes to overtime rules, we’re still months off from any final rules and the only change is to the salary test — not even the duties test.

Sure, you need to be vigilant. But that isn’t new.

So, go on that vacation this summer. Unplug. And take some more deep breaths.  Things aren’t as crazy as headlines and alerts suggest.

Let’s all try for a little more perspective and a little less noise.