The March 2012 edition covers important new developments in labor and employment law, including the following:

- Expanded Protections for Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowers;

- NLRB Limits Use of Class Action Waivers in Mandatory Arbitration Agreements;

- U.S. Supreme Court Upholds the Ministerial Exception;

- California Supreme Court Clarifies the Administrative Exemption;

- Employee Outbursts May Forfeit Protections of the NLRA;

- H-1B Visa FY 2013 Initial Filing Date Approaches.

Excerpt from Expanded Protections for Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowers

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Administrative Review Board (ARB) recently issued several decisions that significantly expand whistleblower protections for employees under Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX 806). In addition, in November 2011, the DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the agency that enforces SOX 806, published an Interim Final Rule, in part to implement the amendments to SOX 806 protections that were included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd Frank) and also to improve OSHA’s handling of SOX whistleblower complaints.