Welcome to the eighth 2024 issue of Currents - our e-newsletter focused on energy topics.
Is Nuclear the Panacea to Data Center Load Growth?
Per public data, after years of relatively flat load growth around the...more
8/26/2024
/ Capacity Market ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Data Centers ,
Energy Sector ,
Energy Storage ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Nuclear Power ,
PJM ,
Power Plants ,
Utilities Sector
A federal district court in Texas has set aside the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) final rule that bans most noncompetition agreements (the Noncompete Rule). The final rule was scheduled to go into effect on September 4,...more
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a tool used by employers to save time and improve compliance when drafting employment policies. However, AI’s current usefulness has limits and comes with risks...more
Welcome to the Summer issue of SuperVision, our labor and employment e-newsletter. We continue to see substantial activity and legal developments impacting employers. In this edition, we cover Artificial Intelligence,...more
8/1/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Final Rules ,
Government Agencies ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Machine Learning ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Investigations
Non-competition agreements are not doing so hot. Recently, more states have outlawed or tightened restrictions on them, and the federal government has stepped into the fray in policing them. For example, the Federal Trade...more
Unions won 95 percent of the elections involving groups of 500 or more workers that occurred in the first half of 2023. Overall, unions won 662 elections during that same period – covering over 58,000 workers, the greatest...more
Attacks on Non-Disclosure, Confidentiality, and Non-Compete Agreements in 2023 -
On several fronts in 2023, we saw federal agencies and entities attacking the scope and enforceability of certain employment agreements,...more
12/21/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Harassment ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
OSHA ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Religious Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII
With no chance of passing the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, we predicted that the Biden administration would seek to achieve pro-labor reforms through the National Labor Relations Board’s (the “Board”) rulemaking and...more
10/5/2023
/ Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Final Rules ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions
New Business Reporting Obligations for Employers: Beneficial Ownership Information Under the Corporate Transparency Act -
Effective January 1, 2024, most legal entities incorporated, organized, or registered to do business...more
10/3/2023
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Business Entities ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Intentional Torts ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Workplace Safety
As we have often discussed, the National Labor Relations Board under the Biden administration has prioritized expanding employees’ rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”). Most recently, in GC...more
6/23/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 7
Considerations for Employing AI in the Workplace -
What is workplace artificial intelligence or AI? In its simplest form, AI in the workplace is the use of technology or software to monitor employees’ work performance,...more
6/21/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Confidential Information ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Evaluations ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Harassment ,
Managers ,
New Legislation ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Performance Reviews ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Technology Sector ,
Training ,
Virginia ,
Wage and Hour
In the Apple TV+ show Severance, employees of Lumon Industries may agree to a "severance" program in which non-work memories are separated from work memories. Outside of work, these Lumon Industries employees cannot discuss...more
4/6/2023
/ Confidentiality Policies ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Guidance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Section 7 ,
Severance Agreements
Severance: Labor Board Prohibits Employers from Restricting Employee Speech in Severance Agreements -
In the Apple TV+ show Severance, employees of Lumon Industries may agree to a "severance" program in which non-work...more
4/6/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Construction Industry ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Former Employee ,
Harassment ,
Health and Safety ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Law Violations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Offer Letters ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Remote Working ,
Safety Violations ,
Section 7 ,
Severance Agreements ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Unions ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published a notice of a proposed rulemaking that would prohibit employers from enforcing non-compete agreements against all employees and would preempt state laws that...more
1/9/2023
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Restrictive Covenants
Welcome to the 12th and final issue of the year for The Site Report.
Top Three Construction Disputes and How to Avoid Them -
Construction professionals sometimes feel as if it is déjà vu when it comes to disputes—and they...more
1/3/2023
/ 3-D Technology ,
3D Printing ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Disputes ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Contractors ,
Drones ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infrastructure ,
Inspections ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Popular ,
Subcontractors ,
Technology ,
Unions ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ,
Workplace Safety
In this fourth and final issue of SuperVision for 2022, we asked our Spilman Team to highlight some of the big labor and employment developments from 2022 and to preview issues they expect to see in 2023. Consider this our...more
12/15/2022
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Marijuana ,
Pay Transparency ,
PHRA ,
Remote Working ,
Unions ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence ,
Workplace Violence Prevention Programs
In late June 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overruling Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which had previously recognized a woman’s constitutional...more
The NLRB Proposes to Re-Re-Revise Its Joint Employer Standard -
On September 6, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board issued a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the standard for determining joint employer status...more
9/9/2022
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Franchises ,
Gender Dysphoria ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Remote Working ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Unions
Recently, leading officials in the Biden administration have taken steps to prevent employers from sharing their lawful views on collective bargaining in order to aid union efforts to organize more employees. These actions...more
Where Does Employer Liability for Workplace Injuries in a Post-COVID Work End? Liable at Work, but Not Off-Site?
The COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic era saw an increase in the number of employees working from home. For...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) recently announced it was hiring 100 investigators and planned “vigorous” enforcement of wage and hour laws in the warehouse and logistics industries. The...more
The Impact of "Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021" on Employer's Arbitration Provisions -
On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed into law H.R. 4445, “Ending Forced Arbitration...more
4/1/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Arbitration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Paternity Leave ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment
Late yesterday, the United States Senate approved a bill that will ban employers from requiring employees to settle sexual harassment and sexual assault claims in arbitration without the option of filing a civil lawsuit. The...more
Vaccine mandates and return-to-work scenarios seem to be the hot topics of the day, and with all hot topics, along comes litigation. Along with litigation, comes serious discussions by employers and organizations about how...more
9/20/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Remote Working ,
StubHub ,
Telecommuting ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
There has been a lot of labor activity in the past three months. President Biden announced the two appointees who would join National Labor Relations Board Chair Lauren McFerran to create a majority of Democrats on the Board....more