The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) nationwide ban on post-employment noncompetition agreements is no more following a Northern District of Texas judge’s ruling imposing a nationwide permanent injunction. Although a long and...more
8/22/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Lack of Authority ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Statutory Authority ,
Texas
The US Department of Labor (DOL) released its final rule to increase the federal salary threshold for exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on April 23, 2024. DOL had previously issued On August 30, 2023, the US...more
4/24/2024
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Restrictive covenants have traversed a tumultuous road since the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on January 5, 2023, purporting to ban noncompetition agreements throughout the...more
4/24/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Employment Contract ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
NRLA ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
On August 30, 2023, the US Department of Labor (DOL) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that it claims will “restore and extend overtime protections to 3.6 million salaried workers” throughout the United States....more
On May 30, 2023, the federal government continued its crusade against employee non-compete agreements. Jennifer A. Abruzzo, the NLRB’s General Counsel, issued a Memo to all Regional Directors, in which she stated that, absent...more
It is hardly a secret that most employers routinely incorporate confidentiality and non-disparagement obligations in severance agreements for departing employees. On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a New Rule to ban noncompete clauses, which “hurt workers and harm competition.” The FTC’s proposed new rule builds upon President Biden’s Executive Order on...more
The US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (DOL) released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) pertaining to independent contractor analysis on October 11, 2022. The proposed rule is intended to revise the...more
On July 20, 2022, President Biden delivered an address on climate change. Despite heavy pressure by many in Congress and environmental groups to announce new executive actions to address climate change, and even to...more
On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced a plan “to require more Americans to be vaccinated.” As part of that plan, President Biden instructed the Department of Labor to issue an emergency rule mandating that employers...more
1/17/2022
/ Administrative Authority ,
Biden Administration ,
Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Since 1996, the US Department of Labor granted more than 1,200 individual exemptions from the ERISA prohibited transaction rules.
One of the distinctive features of ERISA is its prohibition, in ERISA section 406 as a...more
1/5/2022
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Reinsurance ,
Related Parties
On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced an “Emergency Temporary Standard” (ETS) on workplace safety and coronavirus. The ETS is in response to President Biden’s directive in...more
11/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
General Duty Clause ,
OSHA ,
Preemption ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Subcontractors ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Just in time for the start of the summer, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has provided updated guidance on employer practices relating to COVID-19 vaccinations, including much-needed guidance on vaccine...more
6/3/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Guidance Update ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Incentives ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations
The CARES Act provides for special federal tax treatment for “coronavirus-related distributions” from most types of tax-qualified retirement plans and IRAs. The distribution must be made between January 1, 2020 and December...more