In a unanimous opinion, the Ohio Supreme Court has held that a school’s search of an unattended bag, and the two subsequent searches that initiated from the initial search, were constitutional. The court held that the searches served a compelling governmental interest in protecting the safety of the students. Two lower courts had ruled that […]
Impacts of Updated Guidance Concerning Homeless Students from the U.S. Department of Education
In December 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reauthorized the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youths program. Updated guidance was released by the U.S. Department of Education to help school districts understand the amendments to the McKinney-Vento Act, which will take effect October 1, 2016. These changes include the following: Greater emphasis on […]
U.S. Supreme Court Issues Order in Transgender Case, But Does It Change Anything?
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of sex for schools that receive federal funding. More recently, the definition of “sex” discrimination was expanded by federal regulatory agencies. In April 2014, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) indicated that Title IX’s sex discrimination […]
Pregnant Workers Entitled to Accommodations if Given to Other Employees
In a decision issued March 25, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act mandated that employers must provide accommodations to pregnant employees when needed if the employer provides accommodations to other employees with similar work restrictions. Young v. United Parcel Service, No. 12-1226 (Mar. 25, 2015). In the underlying case, […]
Changes to Definition of “Spouse” under FMLA
On February 25, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a Final Rule changing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”) definition of “spouse.” Effective March 27, 2015, spouses in same-sex marriages shall have the same opportunity as spouses of heterosexual marriages to exercise FMLA rights regardless of where they live. Therefore, even […]
2014 Mid-Biennium Education Bill Signed into Law
House Bill 487, the mid-biennium education bill, reviewed in last month’s ERF School Law Review newsletter, was signed into law on June 16, 2014. Except as indicated otherwise in the statute, HB 487 becomes effective September 15, 2014. Some of the upcoming changes in the law include the following: College and Work-Ready Assessment System- For […]
U.S. Supreme Court limits fair-share fees on labor unions
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that partial-public employees could not be required to pay fair-share fees when the only reason the partial-public employees were deemed to be “public” employees was solely for union formation and collection of dues. The case arose out of Illinois, where lawmakers classified home health care […]
Law Enforcement Must Have a Warrant to Search a Cell Phone
The U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion on two cases on June 25, 2014, which prohibits law enforcement from searching the contents of cell phones without warrants. Riley v. California, 573 U.S. _____ (2014); U.S. v. Wurie, 573 U.S. _____ (2014). In these cases, police officers did not have probable cause to search the individuals’ […]
Affordable Care Act Employer Mandate Delayed (in part) Again.
On February 10, 2014, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service gave businesses an extra year to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. Click for U.S. Treasury Press Release. Effective immediately, businesses with 50-99 employees will not face penalties for failing to provide health care coverage until 2016. However, […]
HR Compliance for 2014
Even with the plethora of snow days in Ohio this month, it is officially 2014. A variety of items in health care and minimum wage have changed. Ensure your district is compliant with these regulation updates in health care and minimum wage. As of January 1, 2014: Minimum wage was raised in Ohio to $7.95 per […]