On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3 – 2 in favor of banning all post-employment noncompete agreements. The ban will take effect 120 days after the final rule is published in the Federal Register....more
As we reported in October 2023, noncompete agreements continue to receive widespread scrutiny – a trend that has continued in the first quarter of 2024. In this update, we describe what you need to know about the latest...more
On June 30, 2024, the District of Columbia Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment Act of 2023 takes effect, paving the way for new pay transparency obligations for DC employers.
The amendment, which Mayor Muriel Bowser...more
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) recently published guidance to assist employers in complying with Senate Bill 553 ahead of the law’s employer compliance date of July 1, 2024. As we reported...more
On January 10, 2024, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published its final rule for modifying its existing test to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
In recent years, we have seen numerous notable employment and labor law developments annually, and 2023 was no exception. As the year comes to a close, US employers should take time to prepare for 2024 by reviewing their key...more
California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed several new employment laws impacting California employers. Unless otherwise specified, those laws, which are summarized below, take effect on January 1, 2024....more
11/8/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Newsom ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Leave ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Violence
Noncompete agreements have come increasingly under attack at the federal and state level in 2023. In this alert, we review notable recent developments on the legality of continuing to use noncompete agreements in the...more
Artificial intelligence has transformed the way we live, work and even think. While AI offers seemingly endless potential benefits in the workplace – including improvements in efficiency, cost cutting and innovation –...more
As the summer winds down, multistate employers must remain apprised of an ever-increasing number of obligations in the area of pay transparency. Below, we highlight recent developments to existing pay transparency laws,...more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently launched a new Form I-9 for employers verifying employment eligibility and announced a new alternative procedure permitting certain employers to inspect employees’...more
In June 2023, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law the Protecting Opportunities and Workers’ Rights (POWR) Act, which, among other things, substantially limits the use of nondisclosure agreements, lowers the burden of...more
On June 29, 2023, the US Supreme Court issued a decision clarifying the standard employers must apply in considering an employee’s religious accommodation request under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. In Groff v. DeJoy,...more
7/18/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS
On June 29, 2023, the US Supreme Court held in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (decided with Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, et al.) that race...more
7/5/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
College Admissions ,
Colleges ,
Diversity ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Universities
Recently, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) made clear that it intends to make discrimination caused by artificial intelligence (AI) tools an enforcement priority over the next four years. This enforcement...more
Massachusetts employment laws are notoriously complex. Employers face the constant challenge of managing their workforces while also complying with the commonwealth’s ever-evolving legal requirements. Below we have listed 10...more
On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) returned to long-standing precedent that an employer may not offer severance conditioned on an employee’s agreement to broad nondisparagement and confidentiality...more
US District Judge Patti B. Saris of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently held that stock options will suffice as “mutually agreed upon consideration” and “fair and reasonable consideration” under...more
Background Washington state’s Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1795, also known as the Silenced No More Act, took effect June 9, 2022, and prohibits nondisclosure and nondisparagement provisions that prevent an employee or...more
On April 14, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that employees seeking to recover damages solely for violations of the federal overtime law are precluded from alternatively pursuing remedies under the...more
On January 13, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s Safety and Health Codes Board voted to enact a permanent workplace safety rule to protect employees from COVID-19 exposure, making Virginia one of the first...more
With legislative activity around COVID-19 is continuing at a steady pace, it is easy to lose track of the myriad requirements applicable to employers, especially those requirements applicable to employees reporting into a...more
In response to unprecedented unemployment levels caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an emergency ordinance on June 23, 2020, that imposes rehiring, notice and reporting obligations...more
On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States "at last" issued a 6-3 decision in which it "did not hesitate" to extend protection under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to gay and transgender workers....more
6/17/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
As mentioned in previous Cooley alerts, the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires private employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide emergency paid sick leave to eligible employees. San Jose...more