Recent Publication:
George Voegele and Adam Gutmann discuss the Palmiter v. Commonwealth Health Systems, et al., case and what employers in Pennsylvania need to know.
George has been advising employers in labor and employment matters for more than 20 years, with a focus on traditional labor matters such as collective bargaining and union-management relations, employment litigation, and wage and hour advice and litigation in both the public and private sectors.
George represents businesses, municipalities, nonprofits, and educational institutions in all aspects of labor and employment law, including federal and state court trial proceedings involving equal employment opportunity laws, such as Title VII, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. He has extensive experience handling wage and hour litigation under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws, including the defense of class and collective actions, as well as investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor and similar state and local agencies.
George has advised employers facing workforce reductions and handled claims under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. George also drafts and negotiates executive and other employment contracts, advises on workplace policies and internal investigations, and handles OSHA investigations and unemployment claims. He has represented clients facing whistleblower claims under various statutes, common law claims including defamation and wrongful discharge, and First Amendment, due process, and other Constitutional claims. He has also represented railroads and airlines in litigation under the Railway Labor Act.
George is recognized for his experience advising employers on complying with Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana law. He is a frequent speaker on the topic and has testified about complying with the law before a committee of Philadelphia’s City Council.
A sampling of the matters George has handled include:
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Negotiated collective bargaining agreements for public and private-sector employers, and handled dozens of labor arbitrations.
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Advised employers facing unionization efforts, counseled clients on union avoidance, and handled strikes and picketing.
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Handled proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and similar agencies.
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Represented a national construction company in litigation against a group of unions seeking to interfere with a project being done with both union and non-union labor and obtained a strong injunction prohibiting union interference, which was upheld by the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
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Handled labor and employment matters for emergency service providers, including volunteer fire and ambulance companies.
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Obtained summary judgment for a major municipality facing more than $3 million in potential liability in an FLSA collective action claim brought by its prison guards seeking additional overtime pay for clothes-changing time, and successfully handled the appeal before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Obtained dismissal of a class action brought by the U.S. Secretary of Labor against a major telecommunications and cable television provider, where the government alleged the company had improperly classified over 300 workers as independent contractors.
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Obtained dismissal of all state law overtime claims asserted against a group of defense contractors facing a class action over allegedly improper lunch time pay deductions.
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Represented a local trucking company in an Americans With Disabilities Act lawsuit, and negotiated a favorable settlement for the company after aggressively pursuing discovery of the plaintiff.
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Represented a national trucking company in a DOL investigation and prevented certification of nationwide class actions in related lawsuits over alleged misclassification of dispatchers and other employees, thus severely restricting the scope of the case and potential exposure to the client.
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Represented a nursing home chain in a class action lawsuit seeking compensation for off-the-clock work during lunch breaks.
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Represented a major bank in litigation by former executives.
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Represented municipalities in Act 111 interest arbitration proceedings involving police and fire personnel.
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Represented an international chemical company in a state law class action seeking compensation for pre- and post-shift activities.
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Represented food distributors, construction companies, and manufacturers in OSHA investigations.
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Represented AllOne Health Resources, Inc., a provider of workplace solutions for employee health and well-being, in its acquisition of the Ohio-based employee assistance business (a/k/a the ease@work program) assets of The Centers for Families and Children.
Beyond his regular client practice, George serves as a member of the board of directors of Philadelphia’s Homeless Advocacy Project and also spends significant time providing pro bono service at homeless shelters and to various organizations and individuals unable to afford representation.
News
August 28, 2019
Best Lawyers selected 138 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 21 of the firm’s national offices for inclusion in the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
February 13, 2019
George Voegele discussed with Politico how the legalization of marijuana in states will likely make it more difficult for cannabis employers to find trained staff, who must pass certain background checks and receive approval by state's marijuana regulatory bodies.
January 28, 2019
Benchmark Litigation has named six attorneys from Cozen O'Connor’s Labor & Employment department as Labor & Employment Stars for their respective regions.
January 01, 2019
George Voegele, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, was quoted in Law360 discussing the changes to the Pennsylvania overtime rules in 2019.
August 22, 2018
One hundred twenty-six Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 20 of the firm’s national offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
March 14, 2018
George Voegele, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, was invited to discuss the intersection of medical marijuana and the law during a session at Philadelphia City Hall.
May 16, 2016
George Voegele, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses Pennsylvania's new medical marijuana law on LVB.com.
January 20, 2015
In an article titled ‘’Worker Misclassification Tops HR Agenda in 2015,’’ George Voegele, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, discusses a potentially major change in the way the National Labor Relations Board views franchisers’ relationships to their franchisees’ employees.
November 04, 2014
Sixteen Cozen O'Connor attorneys have been named to the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania's 2014 Pro Bono Roll of Honor. Each year, the pro bono committee of the First Judicial Court recognizes attorneys who have provided pro bono services to litigants in the Philadephia Courts. In order to be named to the Roll of Honor, an attorney must practice in Philadelphia County, must have provided services to a client in a case before the FJD, must not be employed by an organization whose primary purpose is the provision of free legal services to the underprivileged, and must have provided legal services with no expectation of receiving a fee.
Publications
January 30, 2020
George Voegele and Adam Gutmann discuss the Palmiter v. Commonwealth Health Systems, et al., case and what employers in Pennsylvania need to know.
January 17, 2019
George Voegele and Ben Shechtman discuss a New Jersey court's dismissal of plaintiff’s claims of disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and retaliation and what this could mean for other states including Pennsylvania, Arizona, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Connecticut.
June 29, 2018
George Voegele discusses Pennsylvania Governor Wolf’s Executive Order that raises the minimum wage for employees of the Commonwealth and its agencies, as well as for employees of certain government contractors and lessors of Commonwealth property.
August 29, 2016
George Voegele, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses the impact of Pennsylvania's new medical marijuana act on employers.
May 18, 2016
David L. Barron, Jeremy J. Glenn and George A. Voegele, Jr. discuss the DOL's final regulations regarding the FLSA executive, administrative and professional overtime exemptions, also known as the “white collar” exemptions.
May 10, 2016
George Vogele, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses what employers should know about the new PA medical marijuana law in Law360.
February 08, 2016
Simon E. Fraser and George A. Voegele discuss a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that comes as a blow to organized labor and a boon to employers in bankruptcy.
January 22, 2016
Jeremy J. Glenn, George A. Voegele and Charles H. Wilson discuss the Department of Labor's Administrator’s Interpretation released January 20, 2016 outlining two new standards for determining joint employer status under both the FLSA and the MSPA.
January 06, 2016
The 2015/2016 Labor and Employment Observer looks back at significant developments in labor and employment law over the past year and forward to what employers can expect in 2016.
December 01, 2015
The Third Circuit held that corrections officers need not be paid for any portion of their one-hour meal breaks, because the time at issue is predominantly for the employees’ benefit.
December 31, 2014
The 2014/2015 Labor and Employment Observer looks back at significant developments in labor and employment law over the past year and forward to what employers can expect in 2015.
December 09, 2014
So do all those Amazon.com workers filling your holiday orders need to be paid extra for undergoing security screenings at the end of their shift? The U.S. Supreme Court today said no. The Court’s highly anticipated, unanimous ruling emerged from Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, a case involving the interpretation of the Portal-to-Portal Act, 29 U.S.C. § 254(a), which exempts employers from FLSA liability for claims based on “activities which are preliminary to or postliminary to” the performance of employees’ principal work duties.
January 28, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday released its much-anticipated decision in the case of Sandifer v. United States Steel Corporation, and held that Section 203(o) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) — which allows parties to a collective bargaining agreement to decide for themselves through negotiations whether “time spent in changing clothes … at the beginning or end of each workday” is compensable — applies to articles of protective clothing such as flame-retardant jackets, pants, hoods, snoods, wristlets, leggings, hardhats, work gloves and steel-toed boots.
January 01, 2014
We are pleased to provide you with our 2013/2014 Observer, which looks back at the developments in labor and employment law over the past year and forward to what employers can expect in 2014.
June 25, 2013
On June 20, 2013, in a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) does not permit courts to invalidate a contractual waiver of class arbitration on the ground that the plaintiff’s cost of individually arbitrating a federal statutory claim exceeds the potential recovery.
May 01, 2013
During Barack Obama’s first term as president, most of his pro-employee legislative agenda was stymied by Congress. Undeterred, the Obama Administration turned to administrative agencies such as the Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to move forward its workplace agenda. The stakes continue to be high for employers during President Obama’s second term, particularly in the diversity-focused areas of equal employment opportunity and immigration.
March 27, 2013
One of Barack Obama’s first actions when he became president was to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, resetting the statute of limitations each paycheck for equal-pay gender discrimination lawsuits and making it easier for employees to pursue them.
January 28, 2013
On Friday, January 25, 2013, in Noel Canning v. NLRB, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that President Barack Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were constitutionally invalid, throwing into question the enforceability of all NLRB decisions issued by the Board since January 2012. The petitioner in the case argued that a February 8, 2012 NLRB order was invalid because three members of the five-member Board (Sharon Block, Terence F. Flynn and Richard F. Griffin) were improperly appointed as recess appointments.
January 01, 2013
We are pleased to provide you with our 2012/2013 Observer, which looks back at the developments in labor and employment law over the past year and forward to what employers can expect in 2013.
September 13, 2012
Fluctuating Workweek Overtime Method Not Permissible Under Pennsylvania Law - Labor and Employment Alert - A federal court in Pennsylvania recently held that the "fluctuating workweek method" of calculating overtime compensation violates Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Act (PMWA), 34 Pa. Code. § 231.43(d)(3). See Foster v. Kraft Foods Global, Inc., No. 2:09-cv-00453 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 27, 2012).
August 13, 2012
Pennsylvania Adopts FLSA's 8/80 Overtime Rule for Health Care Industry Employers - Labor and Employment Alert - Pennsylvania has taken a major step toward making its overtime requirements for employers in the health care industry consistent with federal rules.
July 02, 2012
Third Circuit Establishes New Test for "Joint Employers" - Labor and Employment Alert - A determination that a company is a “joint employer” can dramatically increase its potential exposure to liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act, because joint employers can be held responsible for each other’s violations of the law.
October 01, 2009
We are pleased to present the latest edition of the Labor and Employment Observer. We hope you find this issue both useful and informative.
July 22, 2009
Federal Minimum Wage Increase to $7.25 Per Hour Goes Into Effect July 24, 2009 - Labor and Employment Alert! - Beginning on Friday, July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage will increase from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour. This is the last of three increases called for by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. This latest increase will raise the minimum wage in thirty states (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma,
June 01, 2009
Our Spring 2009 Labor and Employment Law Observer covers a multitude of topics of interest to in-house counsel, human resources professionals and corporate management. Many of these articles are particularly timely given the changing political climate and our increasingly technology driven society.
August 15, 2008
Our Summer 2008 Labor and Employment Law Observer covers a multitude of topics of interest to in-house counsel, human resources professionals and corporate management.
July 17, 2008
Federal Minimum Wage Increase to $6.55 Per Hour Goes Into Effect July 24, 2008 - Labor and Employment Alert! -
February 29, 2008
Our Winter 2008 Labor and Employment Law Observer covers a multitude of topics of interest to in-house counsel, human resource professionals and corporate management. Recently, President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law, which expands the FMLA to provide enhanced leave for families of military personnel. Additionally, in mid-February 2008, the Department of Labor propounded new proposed regulations regarding the FMLA. Moreover, in late February, the Supreme Court weighed in on the use of ''me too'' evidence during trials.
September 01, 2007
Our Fall 2007 Labor and Employment Law Observer covers a multitude of topics of interest to in-house counsel, human resource professionals and corporate management.
July 19, 2007
Federal Minimum Wage Increase to $5.85 per Hour Goes Into Effect July 24, 2007 - Labor and Employment Alert - 7/18/2007 - Beginning on Tuesday, July 24, 2007, the federal minimum wage will increase from
$5.15 to $5.85 per hour. This is the first of three scheduled increases called for by the
Fair Minimum Wage Act signed by President Bush this past May. On July 24, 2008
the minimum wage will increase again to $6.55 per hour, and on July 24, 2009 the
final increase will take effect to lift the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. The U.S.
July 11, 2006
Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Increased to $7.15 Per Hour - Labor and Employment Alert! -
Events & Seminars
Past Events
February 11, 2020 - Philadelphia, PA
June 20, 2019 - Philadelphia, PA
February 06, 2019 - Harrisburg, PA
September 13, 2018 - New York, NY
June 13, 2018 - Philadelphia, PA
December 06, 2017 - Philadelphia, PA
November 14, 2017 - Philadelphia, PA
October 18, 2017 - Philadelphia, PA
June 14, 2017 - Philadelphia, PA
December 08, 2015 - Voorhees, N.J.
November 05, 2014 - Philadelphia, PA
November 02, 2013 - Villanova, PA
November 03, 2010 - Philadelphia, PA