On November 8, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) released its decision in Siren Retail Corp., 373 NLRB No. 135, holding that employers may violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or the...more
In its September 13, 2024 decision in Bodge et al. v. Commonwealth et al., SJC-13567 (2024), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) ruled that an employer’s policy of denying the accrual of certain benefits to...more
9/19/2024
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Medical Leave ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On July 31, 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy, in an effort to increase transparency in pay, signed into law wage equity legislation that imposes new disclosure requirements on Massachusetts-based employers. The...more
8/9/2024
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued its Final Rule prohibiting non-compete clauses in all agreements between employers and their workers. This controversial ban comes one year and six months after...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Labor Regulations ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
On February 8, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States clarified the standard for proving causation under the whistleblower protection provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (the “Act”), easing the burden of proof employees...more
On November 22, 2023, New York City’s law banning discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations on the basis of an individual’s height and/or weight went into effect. The law, signed on May 26, 2023 by...more
11/29/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
City of New York ,
Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
New York ,
State and Local Government
On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law (A6604 / S4982) that prohibits New York employers and employment agencies from discriminating or retaliating against employees who refuse to attend...more
On August 31, 2023, the NLRB released its decision in Miller Plastic Products, Inc. and Ronald Vincer, 372 NLRB No. 134 (“Miller”), in which the Board re-established a fact-sensitive totality of the evidence test to determine...more
On August 2, 2023, the NLRB issued a decision in Stericycle, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 113 (2023) which adopts a new legal standard for evaluating whether employer workplace policies violate the NLRA. The decision supplants a more...more
When hiring employees, employers must verify employees’ identities and employment authorizations and record their verification on Form I-9. Federal law requires that employers complete Section 2 of the Form I-9 by physically...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s (“SJC”) decision in Mark A. Adams v. Schneider Electric USA, Inc., SJC-13352 (2023) concerned the age discrimination claim of a plaintiff who was 54 years old when he was laid off by...more
6/29/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Cat's Paw ,
Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Layoffs ,
Liability ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Summary Judgment
On July 5, 2023, the New York Department of Consumer and Workplace Protection (“DCWP”) will begin enforcing NYC Law 144, which regulates the use of AI-driven hiring tools, referred to as Automated Employment Decision Tools...more
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 NLRB issued a decision significantly restricting employers’ use of non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions in its agreements with its non-supervisory employees. As a result of the decision,...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor has released a new rule that will give antitrust whistleblowers added protection against retaliation. The new rule establishes...more
2/16/2023
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Comment Period ,
Contractors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2015 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Contractors ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
OSHA ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proposed Rules ,
Sherman Act ,
Whistleblowers
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed two bills into law aimed at enhancing protections for pregnant and nursing parents in the workplace: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal...more
On December 21, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a statewide pay transparency measure into law. The new law, which goes into effect on September 18, 2023, requires covered employers and employment agencies to list...more
1/3/2023
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Job Descriptions ,
Job Promotions ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Last week, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo joined the agency’s regional prosecutors in concluding that some NCAA student athletes are employees, instructing the Board’s regional prosecutors to pursue unfair labor claims...more
New York has passed a new law intended to ensure that workers are permitted to take lawful absences from work without being penalized. The new measure amends Section 215 of the New York Labor Law to prohibit an employer from...more
On October 11, 2022, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed rule setting forth a new test for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards...more
On July 26, 2022, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (“CROWN”) Act. Among other things, the law prohibits discrimination based on “traits...more
On April 14, 2022, the SJC held that where employees’ sole claims for overtime wages rest on the employer’s liability under the FLSA, employees are limited to the remedies provided under the FLSA, and may not receive treble...more
4/15/2022
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Labor Law Violations ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Over-Time ,
Retroactive Application ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage Act ,
Wage and Hour
On April 4, 2022, the SJC held that employers must pay treble damages on late wage payments, even if the employee has not filed a Wage Act complaint with the Office of the Attorney General or a court before the payment is...more
On January 15, 2022, New York City passed Local Law 32 of 2022, which requires employers in New York City to post the “minimum and maximum salary” for “advertisements” in a “job, promotion or transfer opportunity.” This...more
4/6/2022
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Pay Transparency ,
Salaried Employees ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
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