Well, it’s officially a trend: Employers are increasingly using personality tests for hiring decisions.

At least according to a recent The New York Times article which describes this as a burgeoning $2 billion industry.

While not new, personality tests are finding new traction as employers hire for remote work positions that have a different skill

Late Friday night, the Sixth Circuit lifted the nationwide stay on the OSHA so-called “vax-or-text” rule. 

For employers, the “why” the stay was lifted is less important than the “here’s what it means”.

And the short answer to that is that implementation of the rule will begin immediately (again). Of course, there’s still an appeal

You may recall that back in December 2019 (doesn’t that seem like so long ago?), the General Assembly and Governor Lamont fashioned a compromise on so-called “dual duties” legislation.

The bill required the Department of Labor to revisit a 1950 regulation that has been interpreted by some as requiring time that a server spends

Conneticut’s Travel Advisory Quarantine has been among the most confusing of the orders to arise from the pandemic.  No doubt that it was not intended to be that complicated.

But the last few weeks have had change after change made to the rules.  And then came the announcement last week that Rhode Island was on

IMG_7496 (2)Did you enjoy the fireworks last week?

I’m not talking about the real Independence Day fireworks; rather, it’s a new Second Circuit decision that should have employment lawyers popping this morning.

For a while, we’ve been talking about interns.  Indeed, back in 2013, I talked about how a wage/hour case involving interns on the movie “Black Swan” had the potential to change how employers use interns.

In that case, a federal district court judge essentially adopted a six-factor test used by the U.S. Department of Labor to determine if an intern was really an employee.

Flash forward to last Thursday.  In somewhat of a surprise, the Second Circuit — which covers cases in Connecticut — reversed that federal district court court’s decision and rejected the DOL’s six-factor approach.

In its place, the court adopted what Jon Hyman properly termed, a “more flexible and nuanced primary-benefit test.”

[T]he proper question is whether the intern or the employer is the primary beneficiary of the relationship. The primary beneficiary test has two salient features. First, it focuses on what the intern receives in exchange for his work.… Second, it also accords courts the flexibility to examine the economic reality as it exists between the intern and the employer.…

In the context of unpaid internships we think a non‐exhaustive set of considerations should include:

1. The extent to which the intern and the employer clearly understand that there is no expectation of compensation. Any promise of compensation, express or implied, suggests that the intern is an employee—and vice versa.

2. The extent to which the internship provides training that would be similar to that which would be given in an educational environment, including the clinical and other hands‐on training provided by educational institutions.

3. The extent to which the internship is tied to the intern’s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit.

4. The extent to which the internship accommodates the intern’s academic commitments by corresponding to the academic calendar.

5. The extent to which the internship’s duration is limited to the period in which the internship provides the intern with beneficial learning.

6. The extent to which the intern’s work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing significant educational benefits to the intern.

7. The extent to which the intern and the employer understand that the internship is conducted without entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the internship.…

Continue Reading DOL’s Internship Test Rejected by Second Circuit Creating Conflict with New Connecticut Law

My colleague, Marc Herman, returns today to talk about a subject that doesn’t get a lot of attention but may as the technology makes genetic information more accessible.  But just because it’s more accessible, doesn’t make it right. Particularly if you suspect something “smelly” in your workplace. 

hermanIt’s not often that it comes up, but

Malloy Signs Intern Anti-Discrimination Bill
Malloy Signs Intern Anti-Discrimination Bill

Capitol Watch — The Hartford Courant’s political site – tweeted the following yesterday:

And a review of the Governor’s website reflects that approval in the bill

Having this blog for nearly eight years, it’s fair to say that I’ve covered quite a few topics. But every once in a while, a never-before-discussed issue makes it way to the forefront. Today is one of those days.

My colleague, Gary Starr, has a post today about a recent Connecticut Appellate Court decision