In recent years, we have seen numerous notable employment and labor law developments annually, and 2023 was no exception. As the year comes to a close, US employers should take time to prepare for 2024 by reviewing their key...more
As the summer winds down, multistate employers must remain apprised of an ever-increasing number of obligations in the area of pay transparency. Below, we highlight recent developments to existing pay transparency laws,...more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently launched a new Form I-9 for employers verifying employment eligibility and announced a new alternative procedure permitting certain employers to inspect employees’...more
In June 2023, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law the Protecting Opportunities and Workers’ Rights (POWR) Act, which, among other things, substantially limits the use of nondisclosure agreements, lowers the burden of...more
Recently, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) made clear that it intends to make discrimination caused by artificial intelligence (AI) tools an enforcement priority over the next four years. This enforcement...more
On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) returned to long-standing precedent that an employer may not offer severance conditioned on an employee’s agreement to broad nondisparagement and confidentiality...more
US District Judge Patti B. Saris of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently held that stock options will suffice as “mutually agreed upon consideration” and “fair and reasonable consideration” under...more
Background Washington state’s Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1795, also known as the Silenced No More Act, took effect June 9, 2022, and prohibits nondisclosure and nondisparagement provisions that prevent an employee or...more
On January 13, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s Safety and Health Codes Board voted to enact a permanent workplace safety rule to protect employees from COVID-19 exposure, making Virginia one of the first...more
With legislative activity around COVID-19 is continuing at a steady pace, it is easy to lose track of the myriad requirements applicable to employers, especially those requirements applicable to employees reporting into a...more
In response to unprecedented unemployment levels caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an emergency ordinance on June 23, 2020, that imposes rehiring, notice and reporting obligations...more
On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States "at last" issued a 6-3 decision in which it "did not hesitate" to extend protection under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to gay and transgender workers....more
6/17/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
As mentioned in previous Cooley alerts, the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires private employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide emergency paid sick leave to eligible employees. San Jose...more
In light of the COVID-19 public health emergency and the uncertainty over its scope and lasting impact on the economy, companies are now considering options to ensure continued viability of their business, including labor...more
On May 3, 2019, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that it would collect employee pay data from EEO-1 employers beginning this summer. The announcement came after Judge Tanya Chutkan overturned the stay on...more
As a sizable portion of the modern labor economy shifts toward a marketplace-focused work structure, more cases and opinions are coming forth to confirm the viability of the gig economy platform model. A recent opinion letter...more
On April 3, 2019, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) submitted a proposed plan to delay the collection of employee pay data from May 31, 2019, to September 30, 2019. The EEOC's proposal was filed in...more
Many California employers use employee non-solicitation provisions in their employment agreements. These provisions prohibit employees, both during their employment and for one to two years thereafter, from soliciting the...more
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act protects the rights of employment candidates and employees when the employer seeks a consumer report, commonly known as a background check, conducted by a third-party investigator. Many...more
As the calendar turns from 2018 to 2019, New York's minimum wage and minimum exempt salary threshold are set to increase in accordance with their respective implementation schedules. Similarly, the New York Paid Family Leave...more
In the wake of the #MeToo movement and resulting nationwide conversation about sexual harassment, California lawmakers recently passed legislation intended to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. On September 30, 2018,...more
Yesterday, the President issued a new Executive Order (E.O.) prohibiting certain financial transactions involving the Venezuelan government, including Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), the state-owned oil company....more
An amendment to New York City's Earned Sick Time Act, which went into effect on May 5, 2018, now permits employees to use earned sick time for certain new designated purposes, including dealing with domestic violence, sexual...more
On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected the common law test for independent contractors used in California for the last three decades and, for purposes of California's wage orders (which impose...more
On February 21, 2018, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that employees must report a violation of securities laws to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to be entitled to anti-retaliation,...more
3/2/2018
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Reporting ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers