The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business....more
8/19/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Donald Trump ,
Independent Contractors ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Kamala Harris ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Political Candidates ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Relief ,
Tips
The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business....more
8/12/2024
/ Census ,
Colleges ,
Congressional Committees ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
FERPA ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
OSHA ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Political Candidates ,
Presidential Elections ,
Proposed Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Student Privacy ,
Unions ,
Universities
The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business....more
6/24/2024
/ Construction Industry ,
DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Farm Animals ,
Farms ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Over-Time ,
Political Parties ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Spouses ,
Student Athletes ,
USCIS
The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business....more
5/20/2024
/ Age Discrimination ,
Arbitration ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Congressional Committees ,
Construction Industry ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Heat Exposure ,
New Guidance ,
NPRM ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Transparency ,
Unions
The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business....more
5/13/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Compliance ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Subcontractors ,
Wage and Hour ,
Warehouses
Long-Awaited Border Deal Arrives With a Thud. A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. Senate this week debuted the text of their long-awaited legislative package addressing the crisis at the United States’ southern...more
2/12/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Basketball ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Human Trafficking ,
Immigration Reform ,
Israel ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Taiwan ,
Ukraine
Here We Go Again: Government Shutdown? In early October, the Buzz theorized that the last-ditch effort to avoid a government shutdown on October 1 hadn’t solved the appropriations problem, but only postponed the debate....more
11/13/2023
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Comment Period ,
Confirmation Proceedings ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Government Shutdown ,
Green Cards ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Joint Employers ,
Proposed Legislation ,
SCOTUS ,
Speaker of the House ,
Unpaid Overtime
Congress Returns, Eyes Finish Line. The U.S. Senate reconvened this week following its August recess. Meanwhile, members of the U.S. House of Representatives continued to hit the snooze alarm, as they will return to their...more
9/11/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Confirmation Proceedings ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
NLRB ,
OMB ,
Pay Data ,
Portal ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Secretary of Labor ,
White Papers
Congress Works While Debt Limit Looms. As our country speeds toward defaulting on its debts on June 1, 2023, the White House and congressional leaders are still looking for an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. The Buzz...more
SCOTUS to Revisit Precedent on Agency Deference. This week, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) agreed to hear Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a case that will invite the Court to overrule its 1984 decision...more
5/8/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Workplace Hazards
Senate Committee Vets Biden’s Labor Pick. -
On April 20, 2023, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a confirmation hearing on Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su’s nomination to be...more
4/24/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Confirmation Proceedings ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Unions
The Pandemic Is Dead! Long Live the Pandemic! This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to immediately end the COVID-19 national emergency, as well as a bill to end the COVID-19 public health emergency....more
2/6/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
117th Congress Works on Last-Minute Bills as Holidays Loom. Nothing is more typical of the holiday season in Washington, D.C., than a last-minute legislative crisis in the U.S. Congress, and this year is no different. With...more
Railroads Back on Track. After months of negotiating - and a very tense last few days - the national freight railroads have reached tentative agreements with the labor unions representing their employees. The agreements avert...more
9/19/2022
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
FOIA ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Railroads ,
Retirement ,
Strike ,
Trade Unions
Congress Is Back. Summer break is over, and like the many children who have recently returned to school, our congressional lawmakers returned to Washington, D.C., this week to kick off a four-week stint before they leave to...more
Congressional Update. It’s the dog days of summer in Washington, D.C., and both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives are out on recess. But Congress is still making news....more
8/15/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Congressional Committees ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OSHA ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proxy Voting ,
Wage and Hour
Senate Scrambles Ahead of Summer Escape. While members of the U.S. House of Representatives returned home for the August congressional recess, the U.S. Senate remained in Washington, D.C., this week to wrap up some...more
8/8/2022
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Congressional Committees ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Energy Projects ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Funding ,
Finland ,
NATO ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Sweden ,
Tax Credits
DOL Appeals Reinstatement of Independent Contractor Rule. Late last week, the administration filed its notice of appeal of the recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to reinstate the...more
President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union Address this week. Though it was easy to miss in the speech, workplace policy observers may have noticed that the president briefly pushed for passage of the Paycheck...more
3/7/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Biden Administration ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
H-1B ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
L-1 Visas ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Minimum Wage ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State of the Union ,
Wage and Hour
In a rare moment of bipartisanship - particularly in the labor and employment policy sphere - the U.S. Congress this week passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. The bill...more
2/14/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Biden Administration ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Logistics ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Trucking Industry ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Nuclear Fallout. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer deployed the so-called “nuclear option” this week by seeking to eliminate the legislative filibuster as applied to election reform legislation. (This procedure is...more
1/24/2022
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Contractors ,
Filibuster ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
PBGC ,
Pensions ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Union Membership ,
Unions
With 2022 underway, set forth below are the major labor and employment policy issues that the Buzz is keeping an eye on as we begin a new (midterm election) year.
COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements. Today the Supreme Court of...more
1/10/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Commuting ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Oral Argument ,
OSHA ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Relief Measures ,
SCOTUS ,
Severe Weather ,
Union Organizers ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Congress: Always in Crisis Mode. The U.S. Congress returned this week for a three-week sprint to the end of the legislative year. With so much on its plate, it is quite possible that Congress will be working up to and around...more
12/6/2021
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Debt Ceiling ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Shutdown ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Members of Congress ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Vaccinations
OSHA Issues Vaccine ETS -
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on November 5, 2021. The ETS, which is effective...more
11/8/2021
/ Administrative Hearings ,
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Arbitration ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Suppliers ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Vaccinations ,
Videoconference ,
Virus Testing
Congress: Lather. Rinse. Repeat. After scuttling plans last month to vote on both a $1.2 trillion bipartisan “hard infrastructure” bill that the U.S. Senate approved, 69–30, on August 10, 2021, and a proposed $3.5 trillion...more
10/25/2021
/ Clean Water Act ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Infrastructure ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Preemption ,
Proposed Legislation ,
SEIU ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Unions ,
Workplace Safety