Groundhog Day: Second Proposed Wage and Hour Boss Stuck By Senate HELP. After the Senate voted down a cloture motion to advance the nomination of Dr. David Weil to return as U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”)...more
Labor Agencies Beware: Congressional Oversight To Kick Up In 2023. Shortly after Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) ascension to the speakership, the House of Representatives reinstalled Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) as chair of the Committee...more
Annnnd We're Back: Legislative Update. We appreciate this audience bearing with us as this newsletter has been on a short hiatus in light of some scheduling issues. During that brief respite numerous different pieces of...more
7/19/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
DFEH ,
EEO-1 ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Heat Exposure ,
Independent Contractors ,
Innovation ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Stop Woke Act ,
Vaccinations ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana ,
Wage and Hour ,
Ways and Means Committee ,
West Virginia v EPA ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Safety
RISE and SHINE Act. It is just a discussion draft, so need to get too excited at the prospect of more bi-partisanship (maybe this author is alone in his excitement over that potential), but recently, Chair Patty Murray and...more
What SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer’s Retirement Portends For The LE World. The biggest news to come out of Washington D.C. in recent weeks is unquestionably the formal announcement of Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen...more
A New Year Brings New Hope, And A Little Vaccine Clarity. Below is a brief discussion of where the various vaccine mandates stand in the courts. But this space is intended to provide a broader update on all of the various...more
OSHA: From The Back Page To The Headlines. If asked in January of 2020 what exactly OSHA is and what it does within the Department of Labor, we would venture that the majority of PMN readers would not have a completely...more
The much-anticipated OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) posted this morning, November 4, 2021, for public inspection. The ETS...more
President Biden Calls On Congress To Eliminate Subminimum Pay For Disabled Workers. The White House has called on Congress to eliminate a program under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act that allows employers to...more
A lot of relevant policy matters have happened over the past two weeks. We have seen significant progress on the dual-track infrastructure plan; this year’s legislative session in California came to a close, bringing heftier...more
House Leadership Holds The Line On Dual-Track Infrastructure Bill(s) Strategy. Earlier this week, media concerns abounded that moderate house democrats might throw an immovable wrench in the serious progress with the...more
The Senate, Finally, Takes A Baby Vote On The Bipartisan Infrastructure Proposal. On Wednesday, the Senate voted 67-32 to advance the proposal, with 17 Republicans joining all Democrats to begin legislative action. The vote...more
A Summer of Freedom: Happy 4th From Us Here At The PMN. While the White House has acknowledged that the nation will not meet President Biden’s ambitious July 4th vaccination goal, it would be hard to argue the nation as a...more
What Timing: Biden Signed $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package. We here at the PMN have been following intently every development when it comes to the federal government’s legislative response to the virus. Indeed, since...more
3/17/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Eviction ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Moratorium ,
OSHA ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Credits ,
Vaccinations
This Space – For Now – Will Continue To Summarize Congress’ COVID-19 Stimulus Attempts. To that end, before he was sworn in by the Chief Justice, President Biden released the contours of a $1.9 Trillion legislative package...more
The NLRB Will Look, And Act, Much Differently Under A Biden Administration. Joe Biden has reiterated, again and again, that supporting organized labor will sit atop his agenda. The board is currently operating with a vacant...more
12/8/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions ,
Workplace Safety
The last #1 hit the Beatles recorded in 1970 was The Long and Winding Road, written by Paul McCartney. The song has been described as a metaphor for the journey the Beatles took from the clubs of Liverpool to the roof at...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The first of several anticipated challenges to Executive Order 13673, “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces,” has resulted in a preliminary injunction staying the implementation of some – but not all – aspects of...more
11/3/2016
/ ADEA ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Blacklist ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EEO ,
Executive Orders ,
Executive Powers ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Free Speech ,
Labor Law Violations ,
NLRA ,
OSHA ,
Pay Transparency ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Title VII ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Final Rules and Guidance on Executive Order 13673, “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” (aka “Blacklisting” Order) have been released. Despite robust comments from the contractor community, the Final Rule...more
8/30/2016
/ ADEA ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Arbitration ,
Blacklist ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
General Contractors ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) ,
Migrant Workers ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRA ,
OSHA ,
Pay Transparency ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Seasonal Workers ,
Service Contract Act ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Subcontractors ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Last summer, President Obama signed an Executive Order entitled “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” requiring prospective federal contractors to disclose “any administrative merits decision, arbitral award or decision, or civil...more
5/27/2015
/ Administrative Merits Determinations ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Federal Contractors ,
Labor Law Violations ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Subcontractors ,
Transparency