NNAHRA Plus Fall Training
NNAHRA I have the privilege of working with the dedicated NNAHRA team this week in preparation for the NNAHRA Conference starting September 28. Part of that preparation has included working with the lawyers who will bring you the annual legal [...]
101 Things Everyone Needs to Know About Tribal Employment
101 Things is my most popular training sessions. The written materials are now updated with significantly more detail and analysis. I wanted to make sure that the session provided the 101 things promised by the title. After counting, the session [...]
NNAHRA Conference
The NNAHRA Conference is a little more than a month away and I look forward to being both a speaker and a participant at a fantastic virtual conference. The conference agenda includes a really smart mix of COVID related practical [...]
FMLA FORMS CHANGE
Whether the Family & Medical Leave Act applies to tribes is an open question with an argument that it applies and an argument it does not apply. Many tribal employers provide job protected leave which is similar to or the [...]
Drafting Tribal Employment Laws & Handbooks was recently published and is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Xlibris and wherever you purchase books.
Drafting Tribal Employment Laws & Handbooks is a practical guide to drafting comprehensive tribal employment laws and the policies included in tribal government, casino and enterprise handbooks. The book explains why this is important and illustrates how to get these documents [...]
Gratitude & Opportunities
A thank you, a book, investigations, hearings and more articles. First and foremost, I continue to be exceedingly grateful to my colleagues at tribal governments and enterprises for the opportunity to serve during this difficult time. Even though we are [...]
Employer Liability Issues During COVID
Outside of Indian Country, an early May 2020 count revealed dozens of COVID-19 employment related lawsuits in federal courts. Eight lawsuits alleged violations related to leaves of absence, six were for discrimination and harassment, five for wage and hour claims, [...]
Tribal Employer Reopen Policies
Tribal employers are confronted with the difficult decision of inviting employees back to the tribal workplace to provide the needed services to their tribal members and communities and reopen the businesses which fund those governmental programs. When a tribal employer [...]
Three Questions Returning Employees
In this edition three questions are addressed which are relevant to employees returning to work for tribal governments, casinos and other entities. I have benefitted from consulting with NNAHRA President Judy Wright in thinking about these questions. Can a tribal [...]
Tribal Employment News-EEOC Modifies Guidance
EEOC Re-Issues Confusing Guidance As tribal governments, casinos and other entities are reopening, there are many questions in how best to protect returning employees. Even though the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lacks jurisdiction in most instances over tribal [...]
Will your handbook disclaimer be enough?
In a recent state court decision the court evaluated whether the employer's employee handbook created an implied contract, and if it did, could the implied contract be enforced? Contracts can be explicit or can be implied. Explicit contracts, for example, are [...]
Two Parts: (1) Furlough versus Lay-Off (2) More FMLA FAQs
The first portion of this edition of Tribal Employment News addresses the distinction between furlough, lay-off and reduction-in-force. The second portion includes the federal Department of Labor’s expanded FAQs on the modified version of the FMLA. FAQs 40 through [...]