On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court resolved a long-standing split among circuit courts when it issued a ruling in a high-profile labor dispute between Starbucks and the NLRB. The case originated in Memphis, Tennessee, where,...more
6/19/2024
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Disputes ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Starbucks ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
On October 27, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published a final rule that establishes a new standard for determining whether two or more employers, as defined by the National Labor Relations Act, may be...more
10/30/2023
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
The U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued proposed regulations interpreting the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements (Labor...more
9/19/2023
/ Apprenticeships ,
Corrections ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Hours of Service ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Penalties ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Program Participation Agreements (PPAs) ,
Project Labor Agreements ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
U.S. Treasury
On August 25, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision that significantly narrows employers’ options in contesting union organizing efforts through secret ballot elections. The case, Cemex...more
This week, the United States National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a final rule modifying certain procedures relating to union representation elections. The rule, which will go into effect as of December 26, 2023,...more
On August 8, 2023, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule interpreting the federal Davis-Bacon Act, the federal law governing payment of wages to construction workers working on federally funded...more
On June 20, 2023, the New York State Assembly passed bill A01278 (the “Bill”), which, if it goes into effect, will ban the use of new employee non-compete agreements in New York. The New York State Senate already passed the...more
6/27/2023
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State and Local Government ,
State Bans ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures
On May 30, 2023, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo explaining her view that, except in limited circumstances, employee non-competition agreements violate the Act. While the memo only reflects General Counsel...more
On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued a decision in McLaren Macomb providing that employers violate federal labor law when they require employees to sign severance agreements...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed a new rule banning non-compete agreements. The 218-page notice of proposed rulemaking details the FTC’s position on the value (or lack thereof) of...more
1/6/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
U.S. Treasury
On November 30, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published Notice 2022-61 (the Notice), providing initial guidance on the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements applicable to certain provisions of the...more
12/26/2022
/ Apprenticeships ,
Contractors ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Energy Projects ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Tax Credits ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
On March 24, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled in Patel v. 7-Eleven that the test for independent contractor status set forth in the Massachusetts independent contractor statute applies to the...more
3/29/2022
/ ABC Test ,
Business Litigation ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
President Biden promised during his campaign that if elected he would take federal action against non-competition agreements. On July 9, 2021, Biden issued a broad executive order aimed at making good on that promise. He...more
In March 2020, Congress enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which provided emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and emergency paid family medical leave (EPFML) to millions of workers needing time off for...more
8/6/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EPSLA ,
Essential Workers ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Medical Leave ,
Paid Leave ,
Required Documentation
As businesses across the country move toward re-opening in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) continues to provide updates to its guidance to employers relating to...more
In December 2019, the National Labor Relations Board announced revised procedures for union elections that would extend certain pre-election deadlines and require certain disputes be resolved ahead of an election... These...more
In December 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) updated its procedures for union elections, with the new rules going into effect on April 16, 2020. These updated procedures include changes such as longer time...more
On March 18, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a guidance to employers answering several commonly asked questions relating to COVID-19 and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The...more
Now that the devastating scope of the COVID-19 pandemic has become clear, the United States government is responding rapidly to address both its health care and economic impacts. Two emergency supplemental appropriations...more
3/23/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Tax Credits ,
U.S. Treasury
In 2014, the Obama-era National Labor Relations Board made over two dozen changes to the union election rules that effectively shortened the time period between the filing of the petition and the election and limited the...more
In November 2019, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) became the first union to organize employees at a Massachusetts cannabis company. According to the Boston Globe, two-thirds of Sira Naturals,...more
New Ruling Makes It Easier for Employers to Introduce Workplace Changes During Term of Collective Bargaining Agreement -
On September 10, 2019, in MV Transportation, Inc., Case No. 28-CA-173726, the National Labor...more
On June 3, 2019, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Fort Bend County, Texas vs. Davis that Title VII cases can proceed in federal court even if employees fail to first bring their claims before the U.S....more
6/5/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Amended Complaints ,
Appeals ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Forfeiture ,
Fort Bend County Texas v Davis ,
Jurisdictional Requirements ,
Mandatory Claim-Processing Rules ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Title VII ,
Waiver Rule ,
Wrongful Termination
On June 6, 2018, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) General Counsel issued a guidance on the agency’s new position on employee handbook rules. Reflecting recent changes in Board law, the guidance issued by NLRB...more
On December 14 and 15, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board issued several decisions rejecting employee-friendly rules previously adopted by the Board. The decisions, which address Obama-era Board rules on employer...more