With so much focus on the presidential election, there has been little mention of the meaningful changes to state laws approved by voters across the country. As noted below, many of these changes will have a significant...more
11/25/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Lyft ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Minimum Wage ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Sick Leave ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
With the outbreak of the corona virus dominating headlines, it is a great time to dust off the company policy on dealing with flu season and infectious diseases, generally, in the workplace. Contagious diseases are...more
1/24/2020
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Flu Shot Rule ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Influenza ,
Labor Regulations ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Public Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Risk Management ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
It’s hurricane season, and companies all along the Gulf should have a plan in place not only to address business continuity issues, but also the human resources and staffing questions that arise in the event of a natural...more
7/1/2019
/ Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Hurricane Season ,
Natural Disasters ,
On-Call Employees ,
Risk Management ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour
The Texas legislative session has come to a close, and the much expected law banning cities from implementing sick leave ordinances and similar employment laws failed to make it to the Governor’s desk. ...more
At the beginning of the Texas Legislature session this year, it seemed like a slam dunk that conservative lawmakers would stop Austin and other cities in their tracks in their efforts to pass employment laws like mandatory...more
4/11/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On Thursday, February 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes increasing the threshold at which employers can invoke certain “white collar” exemptions to the Fair Labor...more
A new year always brings new headaches for HR professionals. So far, 2019 has been off to a running start with a government shutdown, the early start of the next presidential campaign and talks of major immigration reform....more
1/29/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
FMLA Abuse ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Immigration Reform ,
Marijuana ,
Off-The-Clock ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sick Leave ,
Social Media Policy ,
Wage and Hour
Although one can never be fully prepared for a natural disaster, it is important to be aware of the federal and state laws implicated in such situations. With hurricane season in full swing and in the aftermath of Hurricane...more
San Antonio City Council approved a Paid Sick Leave Ordinance on Thursday, August 16, 2018, which allows workers to accrue up to 64 hours of paid sick leave each year. This law largely tracks the recent Austin sick pay...more
On July 26, the Dept. of Labor (DOL) published a Request for Information (RFI), looking for input from the public on next steps after the Obama Administration’s effort to increase the minimum salary threshold for exempt...more
With the first tropical storm of the season bearing down on the Gulf Coast, it is a good time to dust off your HR Department’s Hurricane Plan and make sure it is up to date. If you don’t have one, it is an even better time to...more
Comp time has long been available to public sector employees, but never for private companies. That might be changing soon.
On May 2, the House passed the Working Families Flexibility Act. This bill would amend the Fair...more
Comp time has long been available to public sector employees, but never for private companies. That might be changing soon.
On May 2, the House passed the Working Families Flexibility Act. This bill would amend the Fair...more
Activist NLRB Created More Problems For All Employers in 2016 - What Happens Under President Trump?
During 2016, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) maintained its generally pro-union, anti-employer...more
1/12/2017
/ 21st Century Cures Initiative ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Ambush Election Rules ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Arbitration ,
Asset Seizure ,
Ban the Box ,
Blacklist ,
Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Criminal Investigations ,
DACA ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dream Act ,
E-Verify ,
EB-5 ,
EB-5 Regional Centers ,
Educational Institutions ,
EEO-1 ,
Email Policies ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Restrooms ,
Employees ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Workers ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Graduate Students ,
H-1B ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
HRA ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Reform ,
Independent Contractors ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Joint Employers ,
Management Rights Clauses ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Mexico ,
Minimum Salary ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Obama Administration ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Pay Transparency ,
Persuader Rules ,
Protected Activity ,
Right to Strike ,
Section 7 ,
Sick Leave ,
Small Business ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Teaching Assistants ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
White-Collar Exemptions ,
Witness Statements
Ban the Box, living wage, sick pay, and legalized marijuana. These laws are at the cutting edge of employment law, and they are all legislative efforts at the state and city level. With a Republican Congress since 2010, new...more
Large government contractors on Monday received a reprieve, at least preliminarily, from the implementation of the U.S. Department of Labor’s so-called “blacklisting” rules, under which covered contractors (including...more
10/27/2016
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Blacklist ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Over-Time ,
Paycheck Transparency ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Subcontracts ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
This year, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced new regulations that would double the minimum threshold for a salaried employee exempt from overtime from $455 per week to $913 per week (or $47,476). The regulations also...more
10/5/2016
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Legislation ,
U.S. House ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
One of the few concessions made by the Department of Labor (DOL) to employers in the new overtime regulations is permission to count non-discretionary incentive payments towards the minimum salary threshold for exempt...more
This week the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released final regulations regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) executive, administrative and professional overtime exemptions, also known as the “white collar”...more
Last year, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a proposed regulation to increase the minimum salary threshold for salaried exempt workers from $23,000 to approximately $50,000 and to index the amount to inflation....more
In a move that brings many employers’ fears closer to fruition, a federal district court recently ruled that an employee may proceed with a class action lawsuit alleging that her employer violated the Employee Retirement...more
Last week, the White House announced yet another executive action. For the first time, private employers will be required to include pay data on the Form EEO-1, which is required annually for all employers with more than 100...more
A new year is upon us, and it is shaping up to be a big one in terms of political and regulatory change. As the last year of the Obama presidency, there is a lot of pressure on the administration to leave a mark – including...more
In a world where the lines between employees and volunteers/interns are becoming increasingly blurred, it is nice to see at least one court easily dispense with a wage and hour lawsuit. On August 13, 2015, a federal judge...more
8/20/2015
/ Collective Actions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Internships ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Reviews ,
Popular ,
Uber ,
Unpaid Interns ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour ,
Websites ,
Yelp
Yesterday, the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor used its rulemaking authority to propose changes to existing overtime regulations that President Obama announced would make “up to five million more people...more