Did you know that OSHA does not currently have a specific standard covering heat stress hazards? Rather, OSHA uses the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, to impose requirements...more
9/12/2024
/ Construction Site ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Heat Exposure ,
Labor Reform ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
OSHA has a time limit on issuing citations. It must issue a citation within six months of the occurrence of any violation. The only exception to this rule is where the employer has concealed the violative condition or misled...more
Following several complaints filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), SpaceX has mounted a constitutional challenge against the structure of the NLRB. Specifically, SpaceX contends that NLRB administrative judges...more
9/5/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Chevron Deference ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SpaceX ,
Unfair Labor Practices
Although OSHA has the right to conduct private, one-on-one interviews with a company’s non-managerial employees, those same employees have rights too. Those rights include: Keep in mind that an employee’s refusal to cooperate...more
How the FLSA “tip credit” is applied has been pushed and pulled numerous times over the last two decades. In the latest volley, the Fifth Circuit entered an order on August 23, 2024, vacating the Department of Labor’s 2021...more
8/29/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
Rate of Pay ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
Tax Credits ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
We all know that OSHA has the right to interview folks as part of an investigation. Whether a company representative and the company attorney can also attend an interview depends on who is being interviewed....more
Yesterday, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas set aside the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) rule banning most noncompete agreements (the Noncompete Rule). As a result, the Noncompete Rule...more
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation last week that will require Illinois employers to inform workers and job seekers about their use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in making employment decisions. The...more
8/15/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automated Decision Systems (ADS) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Rights ,
Illinois ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Technology
Since our last post on this topic, pay transparency laws were enacted or became effective in four states, the District of Columbia, and several municipalities. The jurisdictions that require or will soon require some form of...more
The National Labor Relations Board issued yet another Starbucks decision this past week. Again, the Board upheld an administrative law judge’s opinion that Starbucks violated the National Labor Relations Act during a union’s...more
By now, we all know that the FTC proposed a rule that will ban nearly every noncompete agreement and that a number of companies have filed legal challenges to it. This week, a federal judge in Pennsylvania weighed in, denying...more
The top lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is ordering her subordinates to continue to seek injunctions against employers for alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), despite the...more
What happens when the NLRB asks a federal court to remand a case back to the board based on a new case holding to interpret the matter before it, the court does so, and then the board pulls a “bait and switch” to flat out...more
On Wednesday, July 3, a Texas federal court enjoined the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) rule banning most noncompetes (the Noncompete Rule) and has stayed the implementation of the Noncompete Rule, but only as to the...more
7/9/2024
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Texas
Can you prohibit your employees from bringing firearms to your workplace? You may think the answer is yes, but it’s more complicated. Recent state laws on gun rights have raised questions regarding guns at work. Here we will...more
7/5/2024
/ Alabama ,
Concealed Carry Permit ,
Concealed Weapons ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer No-Weapons Policies ,
Employment Policies ,
Firearms ,
Gun Laws ,
Louisiana ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Workplace Violence
Crisis planning is not everyone’s idea of a good time, but an ounce of prevention is worth it when you are faced with a crisis.
Here are 10 things to think about as you prepare for a possible crisis:
Where is your...more
With the passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), the law on how you accommodate pregnant workers changed last June, and we blogged about it. Then the EEOC issued extensive regulations last August, and we blogged...more
6/21/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Agenda
In an 8-1 decision authored by Justice Clarence Thomas, the United States Supreme Court settled the conflict among circuits in setting the standard for issuing 10(j) injunctions sought in unfair labor practice proceedings. In...more
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released long-awaited Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, No. 915.064. The EEOC also published a “Summary of Key Provisions,” FAQs for employees, and a...more
What accommodations are reasonable under the ADA? Employers are required to provide modifications or adjustments that enable a job applicant to be considered for a position. Beyond the application process, employers must also...more
Does it seem like you are dealing with more mental health issues in your workforce? If so, you are not alone. Recent mental health claim statistics show an alarming increase in chronic illnesses since the pandemic. For adults...more
As technology continues to evolve, so do the dynamics of labor and employment. The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2024-1 (FAB 2024-1). FAB...more
5/24/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automated Systems ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Guidance ,
Technology ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Wage and Hour
A National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge in San Francisco recently ruled that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy violated the National Labor Relations Act when he commented on labor unions through several media outlets....more
If an employer or coworker persistently uses a transgender worker’s wrong name or identified pronoun, can that constitute a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII? In Copeland v. Georgia Department of Corrections,...more
5/9/2024
/ Appeals ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Remand ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Vacated
If you transfer an employee to a job with no loss in pay or title but the employee thinks it is less desirable, can that employee sue you for discrimination under Title VII? While it depends on the facts, in Muldrow v. St....more
5/2/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Transfers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Lateral Transfers ,
Muldrow v City of St Louis ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII