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Yes, it matters. President Obama says it matters.  Last year he promised increased enforcement of the rules which limit when employers may designate a worker an independent contractor. Both the law and the President assert that some employers are misclassifying workers in an effort to reduce employer costs and liability.  Of course there are other employers misclassifying workers from lack of insight on the issue but whether the misclassification is intentional or innocent, getting [...]

The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-690) requires that organizations receiving grants from any federal agency agree to maintain a drug-free workplace.  Most tribes exercise their right to receive federal grants and therefore comply with the Act.  The Act requires grant recipients to perform certain specific functions and the Act makes room for recipients to exercise a fair amount of discretion in performing other tasks. What are those specific tasks? In complying [...]

Whether the federal union law, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), applies to tribes is an open question without a certain answer. The conversation around this open question just became even more interesting with the decision of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to forego its jurisdiction over a gaming enterprise owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation.  In light of the NLRB's assertion of jurisdiction over gaming enterprises owned by the Little River [...]

Generally, the answer is no. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) limits an employer's use of age as a factor in employment related decisions.  Whether the ADEA applies to tribal employers is an open question as there is an argument it applies and there is an argument it does not apply.  As an exercise of the tribe's sovereignty, tribes choose whether to follow the ADEA, create tribal law which meets the [...]

What is the federal age discrimination law? The Age Discrimination in Employment Act or ADEA. Does the ADEA apply to tribal employers? There is no single correct answer to this question.  There are arguments that the ADEA applies to tribal employers and there are arguments it does not apply.  Like the federal overtime, union, leave and safety laws, this debate will persist and each tribe should evaluate the options and make a choice which [...]