As an update to our April 25, 2024 Client Alert, “FTC Issues New Rule—But Not the Final Chapter—on Non-Competes: What Employers Need to Know,” a federal court in Dallas, Texas has blocked the Federal Trade Commission’s Rule...more
8/22/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pending Litigation ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Statutory Authority ,
Unfair Competition
On April 22, the Federal Trade Commission issued its final “Non-Compete Clause Rule” which bans most non-competes in the United States. It will become effective 120 days after it is published in the Federal Register....more
4/26/2024
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Former Employee ,
New Rules ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets ,
Unfair Competition ,
Uniform Trade Secrets Acts
Employers will now have to show a higher degree of hardship to deny employee requests for religious accommodation. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 29 C.F.R. § 1605.2(b)(1), employers are required to grant...more
7/5/2023
/ Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS
Remote work already was a growing trend before the COVID-19 pandemic, and that trend rapidly accelerated when the pandemic hit in early 2020. Even as conditions have improved and restrictions have been lifted, many employers...more
In the ongoing legal battle over the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing (the “ETS”), a federal appeals court has given OSHA authority - for now -...more
12/23/2021
/ Compliance Dates ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Masks ,
Order to Lift Stay ,
OSHA ,
Preemption ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On November 5, 2021, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration published its anticipated emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing (the “ETS”). Citing the “grave danger” posed by the virus...more
11/15/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State OSHA Laws ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
There are a multitude of unknowns as health officials across the country race to administer the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine. Employers must also evaluate a number of factors as they decide whether or not to mandate that...more
2/23/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
The U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") is one step closer to publishing final regulations on the FLSA's overtime exemptions for "white collar" workers in executive, administrative, and professional positions. The DOL published...more
7/9/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
NPRM ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On December 14, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) voted 3-2 to overrule its own August 2015 decision in Browning-Ferris Industries. Browning-Ferris had overturned the long-standing test of joint employment and...more
John Pueschel, partner in the Winston-Salem office of Womble Bond Dickinson, examines the limits on employee free speech and use of social media against the background of recent events at Google and in Charlottesville....more
11/3/2017
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Google ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Rights Act ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Private Sector ,
Section 7 ,
Social Media ,
Social Media Policy ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
UK
The winding legal path of the 2016 “white collar” regulations has come to an end. On August 31, 2017, the Honorable Amos L. Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas struck down the U.S. Department...more
9/20/2017
/ Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dismissals ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Lack of Authority ,
Minimum Salary ,
Obama Administration ,
Over-Time ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Public Comment ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
A recent decision in the North Carolina Business Court could have significant implications on non-competition covenants in employment agreements that contain a very common automatic renewal term. The decision, if followed by...more
There is still no decision on when—or if—the proposed “white collar” regulations will go into effect. On November 22, 2016, a federal court in Texas issued an order that blocked the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) proposed...more
In a significant decision that expands the rights of employees, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled on April 4, 2017 that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination...more
4/7/2017
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Split of Authority ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its much-anticipated final rule changing the regulations for the so-called "white collar” exemptions under the FLSA, and significantly increasing the minimum salary level necessary...more
The North Carolina Supreme Court recently reaffirmed that the power of North Carolina courts to “blue pencil” restrictive covenants is extremely limited, even when an agreement purports to give a court express authority to...more
The final rule for the new "white collar" overtime regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) is likely to be published in spring or summer of 2016....more
Happy Labor Day 2015! In the spirit of the day, we thought it fitting to reflect on the three, hot topics that have been dominating the labor and employment news this summer, and which are certain to impact employers and...more
9/8/2015
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Definition ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Harassment ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Subcontractors ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On July 15, 2015, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) released official guidance addressing the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The guidance, Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2015-1...more
On July 6, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued proposed new regulations that will significantly change the law governing certain “white collar” workers who are exempt from minimum wage and overtime pay. All...more
Right now, many organizations are getting ready for a new class of interns to arrive in May when schools and colleges finish for the summer. With fully laudable intentions, many organizations offer summer internships as a...more
On January 20, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that Wisconsin has also joined the growing list of states that have entered into formal agreements with the DOL to share information about worker misclassification. ...more
The United States Supreme Court issued an interesting decision last month on whether employees who are required to undergo security screening after their work was done should be paid for that time. The Supreme Court found in...more
As many of you know, last year President Obama directed the DOL to issue new regulations to “modernize and streamline” the white collar exemptions to the minimum wage and overtime requirements under the FLSA. (Keep in mind...more
On January 13, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that Florida joined the ranks of states that have entered into formal agreements with the DOL to share information about worker misclassification. Under the terms...more