On May 31, Law Week Colorado published a special edition focused on Employment Law and featured an article by Lawrence L. Lee, Of Counsel in Gordon & Rees's Denver office, entitled Employers To Face Multi-Front Assault From Washington. In the article, Mr. Lee examines the primary areas of labor and employment law where employers should expect a marked increase in enforcement activity and private plaintiff/employee litigation.
In addition to substantial increases in both budget and personnel at the DOL and EEOC, of special concern is the impact of the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA), which has been passed by the House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate. The PFA strengthens protections against gender-based wage discrimination found in the Equal Pay Act. If signed into law, PFA would bar retaliation against employees who share salary information with co-workers, allow successful plaintiffs to collect compensatory and punitive damages, and allow plaintiffs to bring class action claims in which individuals are joined as party plaintiffs without their consent.
To learn more about the implications of the PFA and other areas of labor and employment law that are targets of today's new era of heightened enforcement, please click here to read Mr. Lee's article. Limiting liability and preventing exposure depends on understanding all amended and newly enacted employment laws, as well as finding out how the rules are being enforced. Staying current with all legal requirements of the workplace has never been more important to employers.