HOUSTON — U.S. hospitality employers face an ever-evolving labor law and general operations landscape, requiring them to stay constantly aware of the newest conditions.
At the Hospitality Law Conference, hospitality-focused attorneys spoke about the most frequent questions they face and most common mistakes they see employers make.
There’s a mix of new and old legislation that requires businesses to provide certain accommodations to their employees and to consumers, said Andria Ryan, labor attorney and partner at Fisher Phillips. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlines requirements regarding employees’ religion, the American Disabilities Act from 1990 for common employee disabilities and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act from 2023 for limitations related to pregnancy.
Businesses have the responsibility to accommodate their employees and customers as outlined in these laws unless they can prove they are unreasonable and an undue hardship, she said.
Even sophisticated employers have trouble seeing the need for accommodations and recognizing that’s what’s being asked of them, she said.
“Because when they’re being asked for an accommodation, they’re being asked to treat someone at one particular point differently than they’re treating everyone else, and that goes against common sense,” she said. “The way to avoid claims is to treat employees exactly the same — except when they ask for these kinds of changes.”
Most workplace religious accommodations are schedule issues, Ryan...
Turkish base fake news in Armenia For several days, a video has been circulating on social media claiming that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan allegedly signed a “secret agreement” with EU ...