Certain Minnesota employers will be required to disclose starting salary ranges, or a fixed pay rate, in all job postings beginning January 1, 2025. This new requirement, signed into law by Governor Tim Walz on May 17, 2024,...more
5/22/2024
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Transparency ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
For the first time in 25 years, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. Employers should review existing anti-harassment policies and trainings...more
By a vote of 3-2, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) passed the final version of its much-talked-about non-compete rule. The final rule hews closely to the proposed rule, effectively banning all existing or future non-compete...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has now officially signed into law a bill including provisions that will prohibit employment noncompetition agreements. MN SF 3035, signed by Governor Walz on May 24, 2023, restricts employers from...more
5/31/2023
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
On April 25, 2023, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' (OFCCP) revised Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form (CC-305). Federal contractors and...more
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' (OFCCP) Contactor Portal is now open until June 29, 2023.
Federal contractors and subcontractors (contractors) must certify, on an annual basis, whether they are...more
4/4/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Certification Requirements ,
CSALs ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
OFCCP ,
Portal ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) started off 2023 with a bang. On January 5, the FTC proposed a new rule that would effectively ban most non-compete agreements, making them an unfair and unlawful method of competition under...more
1/10/2023
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Comment Period ,
Competition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
On August 18, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) issued “Advancing Pay Equity Through Compensation Analysis,” a revision to Directive 2022-01, “Pay Edit Audits.” The revised Directive states...more
8/26/2022
/ Audits ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Document Requests ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Contractors ,
FOIA ,
OFCCP ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Wage and Hour
Effective Compliance Evaluations and Enforcement -
On March 31, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a new directive concerning enforcement of its equal...more
4/7/2022
/ Affirmative Action ,
CSALs ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Labor Reform ,
New Guidance ,
OFCCP ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Policy Statement ,
Wage and Hour
The saga of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) continues. On Friday night, December 17, a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an Opinion...more
12/20/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Motion to Dissolve ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
As anticipated in our prior alerts, there have been continuing practical and legal challenges to implementing the Path Out of the Pandemic plan. This alert provides an update on the current status of challenges to OSHA's...more
12/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Comment Period ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Stays ,
Tenth Amendment ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
We have previously reported on implementation issues arising from President Biden’s Path out of the Pandemic plan, which included issuance of Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID-19 Safety Protocols for...more
11/3/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
We have been answering a number of questions from clients regarding the nature and scope of the requirements for COVID vaccination, testing, masking and more. Our previous alert and blogs laid out the administration's Path...more
10/19/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On September 24, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued its hotly anticipated workplace safety guidelines as required by Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors....more
9/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced major actions intended to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic called the Path Out of the Pandemic that will have a significant impact on employers across the country. ...more
9/10/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Contractors ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On July 29, 2021, the Biden Administration announced that every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to attest to their vaccination status. In line with this announcement, the Safer Federal...more
9/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) May 13 update of two key guidance documents that now show fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance, local and state...more
5/17/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on April 26, 2021, that the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection is now open after being delayed in May of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. See...more
4/30/2021
/ Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Gap ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Wage and Hour
With the change in administration, government contractors should anticipate increased scrutiny of their pay practices. President Biden signaled heightened pay equity enforcement on his first day in office by appointing Jenny...more
3/26/2021
/ Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Labor Regulations ,
OFCCP ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Gap ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Wage and Hour
On December 16, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provided guidance to employers considering mandating or encouraging their employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19. The EEOC promulgated the...more
12/18/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On September 22, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Combatting Race and Sex Stereotyping that the president purports is necessary to combat the “destructive ideology” that is “rooted in the pernicious...more
9/25/2020
/ Bias ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Deregulation ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Race Relations ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
On September 8, 2020, Judge Gregory Woods in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York struck down the majority of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) “joint-employer” rule concerning what it...more
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) just posted its list of companies that are scheduled for an audit of their affirmative action programs here: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/foia/library (click on...more
EEO-1 Reports -
With September upon us, many employers are remembering the prior filing deadline for EEO-1 Reports and wondering what is happening with that obligation. The short answer is that the U.S. Equal Employment...more
9/11/2020
/ Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
OFCCP ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Gap ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
VETS 4212 ,
Wage and Hour
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started materially affecting contractors in March, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) has continued its practice of conducting audits, providing resources and assistance,...more