Free Republic

A Trump-appointed judge ruled Wednesday that employers are not obligated to provide workers with time off for abortion procedures, striking down a controversial Biden-era regulation. U.S. District Judge David Joseph of the Western District of Louisiana ruled that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s regulation — implemented during the Biden administration — exceeded its authority by including abortion among pregnancy-related conditions requiring job protections, The Associated Press reported. The EEOC’s rule implemented the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which was passed in December 2022 with bipartisan support. The law requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide “reasonable accommodations...

A federal judge ruled this week that the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) may not force Catholic employers to accommodate abortion and IVF or to abide by Biden-era LGBT “anti-discrimination” rules. The Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota, and the Catholic Benefits Association (CBA) had sued over the regulations last year, arguing their enforcement under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act violated the religious freedom rights of Catholic groups.“The US District Court for the District of North Dakota entered judgment Wednesday,” according to Bloomberg Law, “a day after Judge Daniel M. Traynor ruled that EEOC’s regulations under the Pregnant Workers Fairness...

US Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) has arrested more than 1,000 illegal aliens during worksite enforcement operations since January 20, resulting in Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) proposing nearly $1 million worth of fines against businesses for hiring illegal aliens, according to a press release. HSI acting Director Robert Hammer said worksite enforcement operations have increased over the past two months and warned businesses that knowingly hiring illegal alien labor is a federal crime. The operations are in line with President Donald Trump's executive order titled "Protecting the American People Against Invasion," ICE said. "This is the highest rate of arrest...

Ghosted on dating apps, rejected by colleges and passed over for jobs — rejection isn’t fleeting for Gen Z. In fact, it’s becoming a defining feature of their collective identity. As young adults come of age in a culture shaped by hyper-curated digital existences, political tumult and cultural and economic instability, a new pattern has emerged: Gen Z is facing more rejections at more critical life stages than any recent generation. What happens when the entire group begins to internalize “no” as the default response? Author Delia Cai says Gen Z egos or their alleged “sense of entitlement” isn’t what’s...

LOS FRESNOS, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The owners of Abby’s Bakery in Los Fresnos, Texas have been charged with harboring people illegally present in the U.S. and aiding and abetting the harboring, according to a criminal complaint. Leonardo Baez and Nora Alicia Avila-Guel identified themselves to authorities as the owners of Abby’s Bakery and were charged after eight people present in the country illegally were found at their business on Feb. 12. Abby’s Bakery in Los Fresnos, Texas (Photo taken by Jorge Vela/ValleyCentral) Baez and Avila-Guel admitted that they knew the people were unlawfully present in the country and that they...

It seems to be the controversial topic of the ages...only it has worsened since post-pandemic. It's the great remote work divide...also dubbed "The Great Return" and "The Great Office Return" by others. Although in theory, remote work has essentially been in existence for decades, it has only become a hot topic of late, and become aggravated even more, with the recent headline-grabbing strides of big-name employers who dared to mandate employees to return to office-based work (affectionately known as RTO)—or risk losing their jobs.

The Sheetz convenience store chain has been hit with a lawsuit by federal officials who allege the company discriminated against minority job applicants. Sheetz Inc., which operates more than 700 stores in six states, discriminated against Black, Native American and multiracial job seekers by automatically weeding out applicants whom the company deemed to have failed a criminal background check, according to U.S. officials. President Joe Biden stopped by a Sheetz for snacks this week while campaigning in Pennsylvania. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit in Baltimore against Altoona, Pennsylvania-based Sheetz and two subsidary companies, alleging the chain's longstanding hiring...

Employers across a range of industries are dropping a job requirement once considered a ticket to a higher paying job and financial security: a college degree. Today's tight labor market has led more companies instead to take a more skills-based approach to hiring, as evidenced on job search sites like Indeed and ZipRecruiter. "Part of it is employers realizing they may be able to do a better job finding the right talent by looking for the skills or competencies someone needs to do the job and not letting a degree get in the way of that," Parisa Fatehi-Weeks, senior director...

SAN FRANCISCO—The California Senate passed a controversial bill on May 31 that would prohibit employers from requiring staff to intervene in active shoplifting. The bill is pending further review by state Assembly committees.SB 553, authored by state Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), requires employers, who could potentially be victims of shoplifting and robberies, to Prohibitdo more to “keep employees safe at work.” Employers are asked to maintain a violent incident log, provide active shooter training and shoplifter training, and stop maintaining policies that require workers to confront suspected active shoplifters. The bill allows companies to apply for workplace violence restraining...

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday issued a proposal to ban the use of noncompete clauses, a move that would allow workers to take jobs with rival companies or start competing businesses without the threat of being sued by their employers. The FTC said noncompete clauses constitute an exploitative practice that undermines a 109-year-old law prohibiting unfair methods of competition. Noncompete clauses, which typically bar employees from joining a competitor for a period after they quit, affect nearly one in five American workers, according to the agency. Long associated with higher-paid managers, the clauses have also been imposed on lower-wage...

Donald Trump has said that pregnancy is “wonderful" – unless you’re an employer. In an October 2004 interview with NBC’s Dateline, Trump said pregnancy is “a wonderful thing for the woman, it’s a wonderful thing for the husband, it’s certainly an inconvenience for a business. And whether people want to say that or not, the fact is it is an inconvenience for a person that is running a business.” That interview, called “Blonde Ambition," highlighted then-Trump Golf Properties Executive Vice President and Apprentice boardroom mainstay Carolyn Kepcher and focused on all things Carolyn – her book, her career, and her...

In an unusual twist to the strength of the multinationals, many large corporations are worried they will lose critical employees to smaller organizations with less than 100 employees who do not have to enforce the national worker vaccine mandate.By itself the 100 worker rule, in combination with the exemptions being provided by the federal government for some politically connected union organizations, would seem to undercut the premise of the “national health emergency.” If the COVID pandemic is such a national threat, why would any groups be excluded from the mandate? However, until the Dept of Labor rule is officially registered,...

According to a new poll, nearly nine in 10 employers say some of their employees will quit when resident Biden’s federal vaccine mandate goes into effect. This ominous news comes at a time when employers are already extremely short-staffed and the U.S. economy has 11 million job openings, an all-time record. This past weekend, I experienced a labor shortage when I had to drive to three Dunkin Donut shops just to get a cup of coffee. The first two I stopped at were “closed” due to a lack of employees. The third location’s drive-thru was open, but it did not...

'Okay, you’re going to require me now to get this? Obviously, the booster shots are right behind it. It’s a never-ending cycle. What else are you going to tell me to do?'A growing number of Americans are facing the imminent loss of their livelihoods, economic uncertainty, and in some cases financial ruin, not because of mass layoffs prompted by economic recession or the collapse of their industries, but simply because they refuse to get a COVID-19 shot.These workers occupy every corner of the American economy, from health care to entertainment, law enforcement to IT, food service to academia. What unites...

The new federal vaccine requirement announced by President Joe Biden has created another worry for large businesses: With help wanted signs up almost everywhere, some could lose valuable employees or won’t be able to find new ones. Biden announced sweeping new orders Thursday that will require employers with more than 100 workers to mandate vaccinations against COVID-19 or offer weekly testing. The new rules could affect as many as 100 million Americans, although it’s not clear how many of those people are currently unvaccinated.

The German government rejected a suggestion on Wednesday that would give employers the right to find out whether their employees are vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.Hubertus Heil, the minister of labor and social affairs, said that Germany has strict privacy laws and employers cannot force workers to show such information, although he agreed that pragmatic solutions are needed for places that are at a greater risk of transmitting the CCP virus, such as hospitals or prisons.“We must act according to the rule of law. Acting under the rule of law means that an employer is not entitled...

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is warning employers that they will be held liable for any adverse events resulting from mandatory Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) “vaccination” policies.If an employee who was forced to be injected with experimental mRNA gene therapy becomes paralyzed or dies, for instance, that injury or death will be considered “work-related,” meaning the employer will be held responsible.In the “Frequently Asked Questions” section of a new OSHA guidance that was issued on April 20, the agency explains that all employers who mandate experimental Chinese Virus shots are required to record any adverse events that result...

The truth on where I stand... https://twitter.com/govkristinoem/status/1430242835790508041

God bless Montana! Now, take a copy and send this to your Governors to also use in your State.Here is the bill below, and a link about it.https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/billpdf/HB0702.pdfandhttps://montanafreepress.org/2021/04/28/vaccine-requirement-ban-passes-montana-house/

Ever since the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for two new vaccines, employers, schools, and other organizations are grappling with whether to require Covid-19 vaccination.While organizations are certainly free to encourage their employees, students, and other members to be vaccinated, federal law provides that, at least until the vaccine is licensed, individuals must have the option to accept or decline to be vaccinated.Knowing what an organization can or cannot do with respect to Covid-19 vaccines can help them keep their employees, students, and members safe and also save the them from costly and time-consuming litigation.Much remains unknown...