In this week’s Connecticut Law Tribune Labor & Employment Law Supplement, I penned a piece about the impact of the new U.S. Supreme Court cases from this past term.

My conclusions?

It is premature to announce the death of wage and hour class actions. But the cases suggest a different future for those types of claims and other claims seeking class-wide relief.

It is not premature to announce that arbitrations are alive and well, however. If there was ever a time for employment lawyers and their clients to study and understand this alternative dispute mechanism, now is it.

In short, now is the time for employers to start reviewing whether a mandatory arbitration program for employees is right for them.  The nation’s highest court has opened the door for such a process; whether employers want to walk through it is up to them.