As our regular readers know, Employment & Labor Insider is a non-partisan blog. But with the first Presidential debate coming on Monday night, I thought it would be helpful to look at the two major presidential candidates and their positions on issues of interest to employers.

The following comes from each of the candidates' websites, supplemented by some news ...

Late last week, the Utah Supreme Court decided that an employer who terminates an employee for acting in self-defense can be liable for wrongful discharge, if

The employee "reasonably believes that force is necessary to defend against an imminent threat of serious bodily harm," and

The employee has no opportunity to withdraw.

The case, Ray v. Wal-Mart ...

Where are we these days with respect to mind-altering substances and the workplace? Here's the latest, with the "substances" discussed in alphabetical order. This blog post is guaranteed accurate™ for at least the next five minutes.

ALCOHOL. Alcohol is legal, which means that it is generally recognized as the most abused of substances. Employers can prohibit its ...

You may recall that in early October the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review decisions from U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Seventh, and Tenth circuits* that struck down same-sex marriage bans.

At that time, every federal appellate court facing the issue -- in addition to these three, the Ninth Circuit -- had found that same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional.

Until ...

Do you believe Chris Christie?

I thought the Governor did pretty well in his press conference yesterday, apologizing forthrightly for the George Washington Bridge debacle*, and taking decisive action against the allegedly guilty parties who had not already tendered their resignations.

*The Governor's Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, allegedly conspired with New Jersey ...

NOTE: Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, there will be no post on Friday. Happy Thanksgiving and happy Chanukkah! 

*SARCASM ALERT*

The following is a public service announcement. Only you can prevent your company from having a boring holiday party by following these six steps.

1. Let the wine flow like . . . wine! Alcohol should always be served at  company functions. One can never have ...