Spring Regulatory Agenda Released. Last week, the Buzz wondered when we might see the administration’s spring regulatory forecast. Well, the administration must have noticed our comment, because on June 30, 2020, it released...more
7/6/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
TRICARE ,
USCIS
Senate Returns. The U.S. Senate returned to Washington, D.C., this week for the first time since late March 2020, and held several hearings and votes. In an effort to adhere to social distancing protocols, senators were...more
5/11/2020
/ Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
J-1 Visas ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Ombudsman ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
SCOTUS
COVID-19 Grips Federal Policymakers. Like the rest of the country, lawmakers and regulators spent much of this week grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 virus. Below is a quick rundown of the various responses from...more
3/23/2020
/ Defense Production Act ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Emergency Response ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
State of Emergency ,
Waivers
NLRB Issues Joint-Employer Rule. On February 26, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finalized its joint-employer rule. The rule returns to a common sense joint-employer standard that existed for decades prior to...more
Go PRO. As the Buzz has been predicting for quite a while, on February 6, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019 (PRO Act). Last May, we covered the drastic changes the...more
2/10/2020
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Congressional Committees ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-1B ,
Joint Employers ,
OFCCP ,
Pending Legislation ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Registration Requirement ,
Right of First Refusal ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
It’s Fun to Stay at the USMCA. On January 29, 2020, President Donald Trump signed the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). Now the trade agreement takes off to the Great White North (it’s a beauty way to go). Your...more
2/3/2020
/ Article III ,
Comment Period ,
Congressional Committees ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Injunctions ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Public Charge ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Request For Information ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
2020 Preview. -=
Federal lawmakers returned to Washington, D.C., this week to kick off the second session of the 116th Congress. With national political elections 10 months away, the policy debates will be amplified, and...more
1/13/2020
/ Audits ,
Comment Period ,
Congressional Committees ,
DACA ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Electronic Filing ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-1B ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
LGBTQ ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
Pending Legislation ,
Registration Requirement ,
Union Representatives ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
Wage and Hour
DACA at SCOTUS. On November 12, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument in a series of cases challenging President Donald Trump’s termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)...more
Fluctuating Workweek Reg Drops. On November 5, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for computing overtime compensation for salaried nonexempt employees whose...more
11/11/2019
/ Comment Period ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fluctuating Workweek ,
Health Care Providers ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Hearing ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Students ,
TRICARE ,
Union Elections ,
Wage and Hour
We Juan It! The Washington Nationals are World Series champions, and it is Soto-rific. This is the first World Series championship victory for Washington, D.C., since 1924, when Firpo Marberry and the Washington Senators beat...more
11/4/2019
/ Baseball ,
Capper-Volstead Act ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Eighteenth Amendment ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
Pay Data ,
Processing Fees ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rescission ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour ,
World Series
The autumn leaves are turning, football season is gathering momentum, Congress is reconvening, and at Ogletree Deakins, we are celebrating the first anniversary of Compass and reflecting on all that has changed in the last...more
10/14/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
H-1B ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Legislation ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Pay Gap ,
Retirement Plan ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Union Elections ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Soft Deadline for Wage/Hour Data Submission? September 30, 2019, was the deadline for employers to submit EEO-1 Component 2 wage and hour data for 2017 and 2018. Or was it?...more
10/7/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Pay Gap ,
Presidential Nominations
Labor Secretary Hearing. Eugene Scalia’s nomination to be secretary of labor took a step forward this week, as the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held his confirmation hearing on September 19,...more
Scalia Officially Nominated.
Although the Buzz mentioned the nomination of Eugene Scalia to be secretary of labor seven weeks ago, the management-side attorney wasn’t officially nominated until August 27, 2019. Will this...more
9/9/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-1B ,
Holidays ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Rules ,
USCIS
Final Overtime Rule Advances. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s proposal to increase the salary threshold regarding overtime pay to slightly more than $35,000 per year took another step forward in the...more
8/19/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
H-1B ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Political Candidates ,
Religious Exemption ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wage and Hour
DOL Personnel Moves. While we all wait to see how and when the confirmation process for secretary of labor nominee Eugene Scalia may play out, the front office shake-up at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) continued this...more
7/29/2019
/ Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Deductibles ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
HDHP ,
Health Insurance ,
HSA ,
OFCCP ,
Opinion Letter ,
Pensions ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Secretary of Labor Resigns. On July 12, 2019, Alexander Acosta resigned as Secretary of Labor amid renewed scrutiny of his handling of criminal charges against Jeffrey Epstein while serving as the U.S. attorney for the...more
7/15/2019
/ Administrative Resignation ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Immigration ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Pending Legislation ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Scheduling Letters ,
Title VII
A recent Supreme Court case determined that private commercial and financial information that is transmitted to the federal government under an assurance of privacy is considered “confidential” and not subject to disclosure...more
7/9/2019
/ Appeals ,
Confidential Information ,
Congressional Intent ,
EEO-1 ,
Exemptions ,
FOIA ,
OFCCP ,
Protected Disclosures ,
SCOTUS ,
SNAP Program ,
Trade Secrets ,
USDA
Spring Regulatory Agenda Issued. On May 22, 2019, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) released the administration’s Spring 2019 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. Before diving into the...more
5/28/2019
/ Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equality Act ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Railway Labor Act ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan ,
Students ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
EEO-1 Update. Like an army of frozen zombies descending on the North, the EEO-1 wage collection matter will not die, and its arrival is becoming more imminent with each passing day. On April 16, 2019, the U.S. District Court...more
4/22/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Rights ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Memorandum of Guidance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Section 7 ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
Regular Rate Proposal Issues. On March 29, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to clarify what forms of payments must be included (or...more
4/1/2019
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
FOIA ,
Gerrymandering ,
Kisor v Wilkie ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
PBGC ,
SCOTUS ,
Unions ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) ,
Wage and Hour
It was a busy week in Washington, D.C., marked by the resuscitation of two major employment policy debates from 2016. Here is your Beltway Buzz....more
3/11/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Minimum Salary ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
OSHRC ,
Over-Time ,
TRICARE ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Paycheck Fairness Act Advances. On February 26, 2019, the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor voted, along party lines, to approve the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA). Republican amendments to limit attorneys’ fees and to...more
3/4/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Congressional Committees ,
Electronic Reporting ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Paycheck Fairness Act ,
Union Dues ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Violence
Joint-Employer Comment Docket Closes. As the Buzz mentioned previously, February 11, 2019, was the due date for submission of reply comments on the National Labor Relations Board’s proposed joint-employer rule. The next step...more
2019 Ushers in the 116th Congress. Happy 2019 from Washington, D.C., where January 3 marked the start of the 116th Congress (now under new management). As the Buzz has discussed in recent weeks, Representative Bobby Scott...more