On December 13, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) made another move to expand relief available to workers who allege unfair labor practices by their employers. Historically, employees seeking relief under the...more
Amidst the flurry of activity taking place before the end of the 117th U.S. Congress, the House of Representatives quietly passed the Speak Out Act on November 16, 2022, by an overwhelming majority. The bill previously...more
12/13/2022
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Biden Administration ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
New York City is deferring enforcement of its first-in-the-nation regulation of the use of AI-driven hiring tools (Local Law 144 of 2021), which was initially slated to go into effect on January 1, 2023. This past Friday...more
Readers will recall that in August 2022, OFCCP published a notice in the Federal Register advising employers that it was the subject of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking EEO-1 data from all federal...more
Technology has revolutionized the workplace and has bolstered business operations and efficiency. Employers are increasingly using automated management systems and other electronic means to ensure that their workplaces are...more
11/4/2022
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
Employee Monitoring ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Tracking ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Remote Working ,
Statutory Violations ,
Surveillance
It is old news to most covered employers that they are obligated to post certain notices for their workforce. What these employers may not know, however, is that the EEOC recently updated and replaced its “EEO is the Law”...more
On Friday, October 14, 2022, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (“Task Force”) announced that they anticipate further guidance will be issued following the narrowing of the...more
10/18/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
OMB ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On October 11, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed rule to update the test for determining whether a worker is an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or an independent contractor. FLSA...more
10/12/2022
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
On September 23, 2022, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) proposed additional rules relating to Local Law 144 of 2021, which will regulate the use of automated employment decision tools...more
I. The State of the U.S. Workforce -
In the early months of the pandemic, jobs declined by a staggering 22.2 million. The good news is that jobs recovery has been on the rise since February 2020. In July, the number of...more
On September 6, 2022, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board delivered employers a slightly belated Labor Day “present” – a proposal to revise yet again its standard for determining joint-employer status under the National...more
On August 26, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a lower court’s injunction of Executive Order 14042, President Biden’s executive order requiring employees working on federal government contracts...more
On August 19, 2022, OFCCP published a notice in the Federal Register for the stated purpose of advising employers that in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, it is planning to produce confidential...more
8/22/2022
/ Confidential Information ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure ,
EEO-1 ,
Employees ,
Employment Records ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Register ,
FOIA ,
OFCCP ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
On July 12, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its COVID-19 FAQs, with specific emphasis on viral testing, antibody tests, and other issues relating to workplace safety. The agency’s update...more
On June 27, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida denied a request to enjoin the provisions of Florida HB 7, named the Individual Freedom Act (“IFA”) or the so-called “Stop-WOKE” law (the state’s...more
6/29/2022
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Bias ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Florida ,
Freedom of Expression ,
Governor DeSantis ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
New Legislation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Race Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Stop Woke Act
On June 23, 2022, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo released Memorandum GC 22-06, relating to her efforts “to secure full remedies” in settlements with the Board. This follows on her prior...more
On June 21, 2022, the Biden administration released its Spring 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. These semi-annual regulatory agendas outline federal agency goals for the months ahead. Although the...more
6/23/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On May 12, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a “Technical Assistance” (TA) document addressing compliance with ADA requirements and agency policy when using AI and other software to hire and...more
On April 22, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law so-called “anti-woke” legislation, amending the Florida Civil Rights Act and potentially limiting the ability of employers to include discussions of “implicit...more
On March 18, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, calling for the most sweeping revisions to the rules governing Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) enforcement since...more
National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo continues to push the Board to take aggressive and unprecedented pro-labor stances, seeking to overturn decades of well-settled...more
4/13/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Rights ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Policy Statement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
On March 31, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a new Directive 2022-02. Its stated purpose is to provide “transparency on OFCCP’s compliance evaluation policies and expectations for...more
Two noteworthy developments have occurred since the California Fair Employment & Housing Council released draft revisions to the state’s employment non-discrimination laws on March 15, 2022 that relate to the nascent law...more
On March 24, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) handed down a key ruling that could have a significant impact on franchising across the state. In Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc., the SJC was asked whether the...more
On March 15, 2022, the California Fair Employment & Housing Council released draft revisions to the state’s employment non-discrimination laws that would dramatically expand the liability exposure and obligations of employers...more
3/18/2022
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
California ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
Machine Learning ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Public Meetings ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State Labor Laws