Can You Spare a Post or Two?
You may have noticed that our postings have gotten sparser over the past couple of months—and I think it’s because the editors are tired. When we developed the blog, our hope was that section members would submit posts and we would edit those contributions, only stepping in to write when needed. Instead, other than the occasional guest post, we have had to write every week. This has finally taken its toll, and we need help.
Why should you write a post? The easiest answer is that it helps the section and our members. But it also helps you: posting raises your visibility within the labor and employment law bar and it’s a great marketing tool. Hundreds of readers come to the Labor & Employment blog regularly to read up on topics like the FLSA, Title VII claims and changes to state and federal regulations. While I can only speak for myself, posting over the life of the blog has given me an outlet to think about and discuss issues beyond my day-to-day responsibilities, allowed me to be more involved in the section, and made me ever so slightly blog famous—on several occasions at bar events someone has recognized me from the blog (sadly, no autograph requests yet).
Please consider writing a post or two to help get the blog back on track. The topic can be on anything employment or labor law related:[i]
- Case summaries
- Changes in the law
- Wins (or defeats) at the dispositive motions stage or at trial
- Novel or interesting issues
- Celebrations of our members
- Anything that would be interesting to the section
If you’re looking for ideas, feel free to reach out to any of the editors (myself, Sabrina Presnell Rockoff, Sean Herrmann, Michael McKnight, or Andrew Henson). I keep a running list of appellate employment law decisions and am happy to share them with anyone who wants to write a post.
Finally, since you read this far, the U.S. Supreme Court issued Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, No. 16–1362 (U.S. April 2, 2018), last week. The Supreme Court ruled that car dealership service advisors are exempt from the FLSA’s overtime-pay requirement. Also, I highly recommend the article “Cutting ‘Old Heads’ at IBM” from ProPublica and Mother Jones. While the whole article is worth a read, the portions discussing how IBM avoided various requirements of the ADEA and WARN Act while (allegedly) laying off scores of older employees should be of interest to attorneys.
[i] Our one caveat is we (generally) want posts that are geared toward attorneys rather than clients.