After Lengthy Confirmation Fight, Brace For Intrusive EEOC Action. On July 13, the Senate finally confirmed attorney Kaplana Kotagal — whom we have had numerous occasion to discuss in this space — to join the Equal Employment...more
7/27/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Arbitration ,
Biden Administration ,
Cannabis Products ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
International Shoe Co v Washington ,
LGBTQ ,
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
OSHA ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Transparency ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Injury
Aaaaaand we're back! As we did around the same time last year, we would like the thank the readers for y’all’s patience during our summer hiatus to allow our authors to take a short break to get some Vitamin D and replenish....more
6/29/2023
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
That AI Is So Hot Right Now, But What Is It? As we noted in this podcast, the labor and employment community – nay, most of the world – is struggling to figure out the best way to reap the benefits of AI, while most...more
5/17/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
California ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Machine Learning ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
SCOTUS ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
More Fallout From The FTC Proposed Noncompete Rule. As Seyfarth summarized here, and we podcasted and summarized here, the FTC has published a proposed rule which would ban all non-compete agreements between employers and...more
Biden Officially Nominates Su To Replace Marty Walsh. This week, President Biden officially announced the nomination of Julie Su to replace Marty Walsh atop the Department of Labor. We have had numerous occasions to discuss...more
3/6/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Biden Administration ,
California ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc v Hewitt No 21-984 ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRB ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Severance Agreements ,
White-Collar Exemptions
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
Midterm Dust Finally Settles (For The Most Part). What do we know as of the publication of this newsletter? First, the results were not close to as red as most historians ventured, but republicans were still able to flip...more
Seyfarth Hosts Government Relations Policy Summit. Aaand we are back to our regular scheduled programming. On September 30 2022, Seyfarth hosted an in-person policy summit that included four panels and a keynote...more
NLRB Proposes New Rulemaking On Joint Employment. The standard for determining joint employment for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act is primed to increase exposure for employers, especially employers with...more
Inflation Reduction Act Of 2022. After the so-called “vote-a-rama,” that lasted all night and into the morning last Saturday / Sunday, the Senate finally voted to pass the Act through reconciliation, by a 51-50 vote margin...more
8/16/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor DeSantis ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Public Schools ,
Stop Woke Act ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
Sens. Schumer and Manchin Finally Agree On Contours Of Next Reconciliation Package. We have been following, and reporting on, the saga surrounding the next democrat only package, originally designated the Build Back Better...more
DOL’s 2023 Priorities, Per Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. Additional personnel topped Labor Secretary Marty Walsh’s wish list for 2023 as he laid out next year’s proposed budget at a hearing in front of the Subcommittee on...more
COVID-19 Relief? It has been a nice respite not touching on COVID-19 recently in this space. But COVID-19 will likely remain an issue employers must front for the foreseeable future. To that end, on April 07, the House of...more
House Passes Bill To Extend Recent Prohibition On Arbitration Of Sexual Harassment. While the 50-50 partisan split in the Senate has caused an uneven legislative road since the onset of the Biden Administration, legislation...more
CMS And Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandates Blocked By Numerous Article III Judges. On Monday, a federal judge in Missouri issued a preliminary injunction declaring the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’)...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 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
President Biden Is Back From Overseas, And His Budget is Out. The White House has released the President’s 2022 budget proposal, which incorporates some of the legislative proposals made by President Biden over the past few...more
A Bipartisan Deal On Infrastructure Remains Out Of Grasp. Last week, the GOP offered a counter proposal to Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, topping out at – so close – almost $1 Trillion. However, the GOP offer only included...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
Oh Happy Day! Stimulus Is Finally (Almost) Live. The House and Senate are scheduled to vote on a $900 billion pandemic relief package along with a $1.4 trillion measure to fund the government through September 30, 2021. ...more
12/22/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
FRCP 30(b)(6) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Relief Measures ,
Vaccinations
The Saga Of The Stimulus Deal Continues. As readers of this newsletter are well aware, the negotiations over additional stimulus legislation to confront COVID-19, and all of its attendant consequences, has seen a number of...more
10/23/2020
/ Bias ,
Border Security ,
Canada ,
CARES Act ,
Conciliation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Training ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Financial Stimulus ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Reform ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
Request For Information ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Trump Administration
House Appropriation Committee Approves a Slew of 2021 Spending Bills. Last week, we updated on the House Appropriations Committee’s work on the Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill, the Legislative Branch...more
7/20/2020
/ Appropriations Bill ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Government Lockdown ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety