We knew it had been coming, but the Biden recently made it official: the Department of Labor announced it wants to rescind the gig economy rule that was originally crafted under President Trump’s tenure and was about to make...more
Either incumbent Donald Trump or challenger Joe Biden will be inaugurated as president on January 20, 2021 – and the impact on workplace law will be significant. Each candidate has provided us with clues (some subtle, some...more
10/9/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Gig Economy ,
Health Insurance ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joe Biden ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Regulations ,
Medical Leave ,
Misclassification ,
Paid Leave ,
Political Campaigns ,
Political Candidates ,
Presidential Elections ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
President Trump officially selected Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the empty seat on the Supreme Court bench, filling the vacancy caused by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. Assuming she is confirmed by the Senate, Judge...more
9/28/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Collective Actions ,
Confirmation Proceedings ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Court Litigation ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Immigrants ,
Judicial Appointments ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Trump Administration
A report by Ben Penn in Thursday’s Bloomberg Law casts serious doubt about whether the Department of Labor will proceed with a misclassification rule before the end of this presidential term. We reported last month that the...more
8/14/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joe Biden ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
Presidential Elections ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
Supreme Court decisions are often the most challenging pieces of legal guidance to understand. They are rarely straightforward and usually contain so much analysis that it becomes hard to get to the bottom of what was...more
8/10/2020
/ ADEA ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Babb v Wilkie ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Comcast Corp. v National Association of African American-Owned Media ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Confidential Information ,
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security v Regents of the University of California ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma ,
LGBTQ ,
Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v Pennsylvania ,
Ministerial Exception ,
Our Lady of Guadalupe School v Morrissey-Berru ,
Race Discrimination ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Institutions ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Trade Secrets ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration
Taking a three-year look back at the Supreme Court’s workplace law decisions gives you the sense that the exciting cases only come down every other year. In the ho-hum term that ended in 2017, the Court handled relatively...more
10/7/2019
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
But For Causation ,
DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration
The news that President Trump selected Eugene Scalia to take over as Labor Secretary late last week caught some employers by surprise; after all, it was just a week ago that we were analyzing the track record of the...more
7/22/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Affirmative Action ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Labor Policies ,
Medical Leave ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD)
There seems to be growing momentum in Washington, D.C. to establish a national paid leave program, but – as with most things in the nation’s capital – there seem to be differing views on how to accomplish this stated goal of...more
As of Saturday, the current federal government shutdown became the longest in our nation’s history—and employers are starting to feel the sting. While the peculiarities of the federal budget process meant that this shutdown...more
1/14/2019
/ Anti-Deficiency Act ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Shutdown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Because Congress and the president could not approve a stopgap funding bill by midnight on December 21, the federal government partially shut down, with no compromise in sight. What will this mean for employers across the...more
12/27/2018
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Shutdown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
If Congress and the president cannot approve a stopgap funding bill by this Friday at midnight, the federal government will shut down. What will this mean for employers across the country? Because of the peculiarities of the...more
As many predicted, Democrats recaptured the House for the first time in eight years in yesterday’s midterm elections, while Republicans retained and strengthened their grip on the Senate. That will lead to a dynamic in...more
11/7/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Congressional Committees ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Election Results ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Elections ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
General Elections ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
Members of Congress ,
Paid Leave ,
Political Parties ,
Senate Committees ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
State Elections ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. House ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
A New York judge recently rejected an employer’s attempt to force an employment claim into arbitration due to a poor choice of wording in the written agreement. The August 7 decision might draw attention because of the...more
8/20/2018
/ American Arbitration Association ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Binding Arbitration ,
Employment Litigation ,
Harassment ,
Jurisdiction ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Trump Administration ,
Written Agreements
Although the document itself is fairly dense and complex, specifically focusing on the home-care registry industry, the Labor Department’s latest field assistance bulletin could provide a helpful clue to gig economy companies...more
Late yesterday, President Trump selected Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) bench. Assuming he is confirmed by the Senate, Justice Kavanaugh would solidify the pro-business bloc of...more
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s announcement of his impending retirement, effective the end of next month, provides President Trump with the opportunity to reshape the Court in a manner not seen in decades. If the...more
A short policy memorandum quietly issued by the U.S. Department of Justice’s No. 3 official late last month could end up having positive implications for employers defending claims brought by the federal government. The...more
2/20/2018
/ Attorney General ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Memorandum of Guidance ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
If Congress cannot approve a budget by this Friday at midnight, the federal government will shut down. What will this mean for employers across the country? A look back at the most recent government shutdown will provide...more
1/18/2018
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Shutdown ,
Green Cards ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
PERM ,
Small Business ,
Trump Administration ,
US State Departments ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Visas ,
Workplace Safety
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1), passed by Congress on December 20 and expected to be signed into law by President Trump in the coming days, contains several provisions that will directly impact employers and workplace...more
12/22/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Business Ownership ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Individual Mandate ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Paid Leave ,
Repeal ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Incentives ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
If a proposal introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday were to pass Congress and be signed into law by President Trump, the country’s employers would find themselves facing the first-ever federal paid leave...more
11/6/2017
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Paid Leave ,
Parental Leave ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Safe Harbors ,
State and Local Government ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes each month in 2017. October was no...more
11/3/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Training ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Brown ,
GrubHub ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
New Rules ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Parental Leave ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restraining Orders ,
Retaliation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
For the third time this year, a federal district court has blocked a presidential travel ban from taking effect. Judge Derrick K. Watson, from the District of Hawaii, today granted a motion for a temporary restraining order...more
Attorney General Jeff Sessions formally reversed the federal government’s position on whether transgender workers are covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, informing all U.S. Attorneys and heads of all federal...more
10/9/2017
/ Attorney General ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
Job Applicants ,
LGBTQ ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration
If you are the kind of person who gets excited by hot-button legal topics and monumental court decisions, this is the Supreme Court term for you. The SCOTUS kicked off their 2017-2018 term several days ago by hearing...more
10/7/2017
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Car Dealerships ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
First Amendment ,
Freedom of Religion ,
LGBTQ ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Public Accommodation ,
Public Sector Unions ,
Retaliation ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Service Advisors ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Shop Fee Arrangements ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Title VII ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Whistleblowers
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. The law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, and September 2017 was no different. In order to make sure that you stay on top of the latest...more
10/7/2017
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
DACA ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Pay ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
First Amendment ,
Gig Economy ,
Google ,
GrubHub ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Janus v AFSCME ,
Misclassification ,
Obama Administration ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Public Sector Unions ,
Rescission ,
SCOTUS ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Sexual Assault ,
Shop Fee Arrangements ,
Title IX ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
White-Collar Exemptions