EEOC Releases Vaccine Guidance. On May 28, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued much-needed guidance regarding COVID-19 vaccinations and the workplace. According to the guidance...more
6/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Military Service Members ,
New Guidance ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Transparency ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Vaccinations
The Biden Administration at 100 Days. President Joe Biden recently marked his 100th day in office, and labor and employment policy changes have been at the forefront of his administration’s agenda. The enactment of the...more
5/25/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Congressional Committees ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Masks ,
NPRM ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
SCOTUS ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Unions ,
Workplace Safety
In its first 100 days in office, the Biden administration has advanced its policy priorities, many of which have involved repealing the policy accomplishments of the previous presidential administration. The Biden...more
5/21/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Graduate Students ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Public Charge ,
Religious Exemption ,
Revocation ,
Student Employees ,
Tipped Employees ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
April 30, 2021, marked President Joe Biden’s 100th day in office, and his administration has wasted little time advancing its policy priorities. At this moment, the administration is focusing most of its attention on...more
Unemployment Insurance Update. Late last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing that the nonfarm economy added only 266,000 jobs in April 2021, well short of the 1...more
5/17/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Green Cards ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Pregnancy ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Unemployment ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Visas
DOL Rescinds Independent Contractor Rule. On May 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a regulation rescinding its independent contractor rule, which was finalized on January 7, 2021, but never went into effect....more
5/10/2021
/ Biometric Information ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Political Campaigns ,
Retirement Plan ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
Biden Releases American Families Plan -
This week, the White House released an outline of its American Families Plan, which is being touted as the second phase of the administration’s infrastructure proposal (dubbed the...more
5/3/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Education Budget ,
Employee's Childcare ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infrastructure ,
IRS ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
What’d I Miss? -
We do not want to rehash old news, but in the interest of keeping our readers informed, here is a quick rundown of some of the items the Buzz missed last week while on hiatus....more
Infrastructure Plan Scuttlebutt. With Congress not returning to Washington, D.C., until next week, the White House’s American Jobs Plan proposal is still driving much of the political discussion in town this week. Of course,...more
4/12/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
COBRA ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Emergency Rule ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Filibuster ,
Infrastructure ,
Midnight Rules Relief ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Persuader Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Security Administration (SSA) ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
Administration Debuts Infrastructure Package. Just weeks after enacting the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, the Biden administration this week unveiled the American Jobs Plan - its $2.3 trillion infrastructure...more
4/5/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Baseball ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-3 ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
H-1B ,
H-1B1 ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Infrastructure ,
Internal Investigations ,
L-1 Visas ,
NLRB ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Visas
There is an old saying in Washington, D.C., that personnel is policy. It is common sense: whoever is in charge of a federal agency or subagency will impart his or her own particular policy preferences on the agency’s...more
Secretary of Labor Confirmed. On March 23, 2021, former Boston mayor Martin Walsh was sworn in as the 29th U.S. Senate-confirmed secretary of labor. Walsh’s nomination had been approved by the Senate just one day earlier on a...more
3/29/2021
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Biden Administration ,
Conciliation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Pending Legislation ,
Religious Exemption ,
SBA ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Well, Now What Do We Do? It seems like months (or, more accurately, a year) since the Buzz hasn’t had to provide an update on COVID-19 relief legislation or negotiations. Hopefully, that is good news and a positive sign that...more
3/22/2021
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Biden Administration ,
Congressional Committees ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DACA ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equality Act ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Reform ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Secretary of HHS ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Workplace Safety
Biden Signs Sixth COVID-19 Aid Package Into Law. President Joe Biden promised the country an enormous economic rescue plan, and he delivered. On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of...more
3/15/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
Budget Reconciliation ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
EEOC General Counsel ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Filibuster ,
Graduate Students ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Pending Legislation ,
Public Charge ,
Teaching Assistants ,
Title VII ,
Union Elections ,
Workplace Safety
On March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 - a $1.9 trillion economic relief package. While the legislation marks the first major legislative victory for President Biden and...more
3/15/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Direct Payments to Families and Individuals ,
Economic Stimulus ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
OSHA ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Tax Credits ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Workplace Safety
Biz Groups Are a “No” on PRO. As the Buzz mentioned last week, the U.S. House of Representatives is teeing up a vote on the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2021 (H.R. 842/S. 420) to occur sometime next week. In...more
3/8/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Inspector General ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
Minimum Wage Increase Booted From Stimulus Package. Even before members of the U.S. House of Representatives could vote on their $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the parliamentarian of the U.S. Senate had ruled that the...more
3/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Budget Reconciliation ,
CARES Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equality Act ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Joint Employers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
LGBTQ ,
Minimum Wage ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Rescission ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Unions ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour
American Rescue Plan Moves Forward. Democrats in Congress are moving ahead with President Joe Biden’s “American Rescue Plan.” As of now - and this is still subject to change, of course - it appears that the U.S. House of...more
2/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
EBSA ,
Eighteenth Amendment ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Adviser ,
Immigration Reform ,
NLRB ,
Pending Legislation ,
Pregnancy ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Twenty-First Amendment
Congressional Update. It was another busy week on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Senate was, of course, preoccupied with the historic second impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump. In the U.S. House of Representatives,...more
2/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Congressional Budget Resolution ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Federal Budget ,
Impeachment ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Relief Measures
Congress Sees Its Shadow. It was Groundhog Day this past week, and it sure feels like we have been living the same day over and over again with the way that the parties in Congress can’t agree on an economic stimulus package....more
2/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Budget Reconciliation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
H-1B ,
New Guidance ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
OSHA ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Secretary of DHS ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Status Check on Congress. We are more than one week into the Biden administration and the president has made progress filling out his cabinet. Antony Blinken (U.S. secretary of state), Janet Yellen (U.S. secretary of the...more
2/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
OIRA ,
Opinion Letter ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Rescission ,
Revocation ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
President Biden. On January 20, 2021, Joseph R. Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and security concerns arising out of the riot at the United States Capitol...more
1/25/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Relief Measures ,
USCIS
Joseph R. Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, 2021. President Biden hit the ground running, issuing 17 executive orders, proclamations, memoranda, and similar actions on his first...more
1/25/2021
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DACA ,
Environmental Policies ,
Ethics ,
Executive Orders ,
Gender Equity ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Race Discrimination ,
Relief Measures ,
Student Loans
Impeachment. Take Two. On January 13, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump on one count of “incitement of insurrection” by a vote of 232–197 (10 Republicans voted to impeach and 4...more
1/18/2021
/ AFL-CIO ,
Biden Administration ,
Conciliation ,
Donald Trump ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Impeachment ,
Inauguration Committees ,
Insurrection ,
Pay Data ,
Resignation ,
Secretary of DHS
Chaos in the Capitol. The calendar may read 2021, but in Washington, D.C., it sure feels a lot like 2020. The spectacle of rioters laying siege to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was horrific....more
1/11/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Independent Contractors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Nancy Pelosi ,
OFCCP ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Speaker of the House ,
Wellness Programs