Key Points -
The NLRB’s General Counsel issued a memorandum providing her position on the NLRB’s recent decision in McLaren Macomb, holding that employers may not offer severance agreements with broad confidentiality or...more
Key Points -
On February 21, 2023, the NLRB issued a decision in McLaren Macomb holding that employers may not offer severance agreements with broad confidentiality or non-disparagement clauses to union and non-union...more
Rising inflation, increased costs of capital and the anticipation of a downturn in the economy have caused companies in many industries to begin to implement workforce reorganizations and reductions. In making plans for...more
Key Points The EFASASHA will invalidate most contractual provisions requiring the arbitration of claims alleging sexual assault or sexual harassment. The law will also invalidate pre-dispute joint-action waivers that relate...more
Key Points -
President Biden’s July 9, 2021 executive order encouraged the FTC to exercise its statutory rulemaking authority to curtail the unfair use of noncompete agreements.
Effective March 1, 2022, a person who...more
Key Points -
On November 4, 2021, OSHA issued an ETS requiring that all employers with 100 or more employees ensure that their employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4, 2022, or tested weekly. By December...more
11/5/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
To account for legal developments since our last FAQ concerning employer COVID-19 vaccination policies, we provide updated answers to questions and address additional questions about discrimination, wage and hour, collective...more
8/9/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Incentive Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRB ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Key Points -
The DOL has withdrawn a final rule published in the waning days of the Trump administration that established a multifactor test for determining whether workers are employees or independent contractors under...more
5/11/2021
/ ABC Test ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Independent Contractors ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
Wage and Hour
Key Points:
- Vaccinations for COVID-19 are picking up steam around the country as supply increases and eligibility expands.
- Now is the time for employers to think through issues raised by employee vaccination...more
4/6/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
GINA ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRA ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Key Points
- In Swales v. KLLM Transport Services, LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit established a new standard for determining whether, and to whom, court-authorized notice of a collective action lawsuit...more
The DOL has issued new regulations setting forth the test to determine whether an individual is an independent contractor or an employee under the FLSA.
Under the regulations, the “ultimate inquiry” is whether, as a matter...more
As COVID-19 continues to spread and economic uncertainty persists, many employers are implementing layoffs, pay cuts, furloughs and other operational changes that could cause them to lose the ability to enforce their...more
- The Facility-Specific Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRLM) in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) establishes an entirely new streamlined approach to labor dispute settlement in free trade agreements under...more
- On April 1, 2020, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) became effective, enabling employees to take paid sick leave under The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and expanded family and medical leave under...more
4/10/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EPSLA ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Leave ,
Public Health ,
Sick Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Policy-makers in Washington have deployed a range of actions to help address the economic fallout from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While not targeting the energy sector per se, recent actions taken by the Federal...more
The grinding halt of the U.S. economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Russia-Saudi Arabia oil price war, have forced companies in every industry to evaluate workforce reorganizations and reductions....more
Working from home may not be practical in many work environments, for example, where company tools, machinery or equipment may be required to accomplish a job. Where a company must suspend work or close a work location, the...more
3/13/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Public Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Remote Working ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Sick Leave ,
Timekeeping ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Employers face unprecedented challenges in addressing the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Among the items on their ever-expanding list is that federal and state occupational safety and health regulations require...more
Employers are facing unprecedented challenges in addressing the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Among the ever-expanding obligations is that federal and state occupational safety and health regulations require...more
Key Points -
• Tight labor markets are leading courts and legislatures to closely scrutinize noncompetes and other restrictive covenants.
• If there are changes in an employee’s job and/or the company’s business, it...more
7/16/2019
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Rebuttable Presumptions ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms ,
Unfair Competition ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On June 7, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it was withdrawing its 2015 and 2016 Administrative Interpretations regarding independent contractors and joint employment. Both interpretations were designed...more
6/9/2017
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) ,
Misclassification ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Trump Administration
The dramatic drop in the price of oil is forcing many energy-related companies to reevaluate their operations and consider steps to trim their costs. With recent developments in the industry and predictions that low oil...more
The dramatic drop in the price of oil is forcing many energy-related companies to reevaluate their operations and consider steps to trim their costs. With predictions that low oil prices will extend well into 2016, such...more
There are several important dates that employers should keep in mind during the first quarter of 2015. While some are long-standing requirements, others are the product of recent regulatory action by the Obama administration....more