On September 6, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) issued a proposed rule to revise the current standard to determine whether employers are “joint employers” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The...more
9/30/2022
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Comment Period ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Wage and Hour
In Tesla Inc., the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) recently reversed a 2019 decision in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that gave employers leeway when adopting neutral non-discriminatory dress codes. Instead, the Board applied...more
9/7/2022
/ Dress Codes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Tesla ,
Union Insignia ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
Wal-Mart
For decades, employers have been permitted to hold mandatory meetings or “captive audience speeches” in response to union organizing campaigns to present the company’s position on unionization. On April 7, 2022, the National...more
4/19/2022
/ Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Unions
In companion decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court split on the issue of mandatory vaccinations for workers, halting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency temporary standard (ETS) for private sector...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On December 17, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit lifted the stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) which had previously been halted by the...more
12/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Commerce Clause ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Motion to Dissolve ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Non-Delegation Doctrine ,
OSHA ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced a major initiative entitled the “Path out of the Pandemic.” The initiative includes an executive order requiring vaccinations for nearly all federal employees and contractors...more
9/14/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Health and Safety ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
As if employers aren’t already tested managing the challenges of the pandemic, on September 30, OSHA updated its COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions to remind employers about their duty to report and record COVID-19 related...more
10/6/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Labor Regulations ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sick Employees ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting ,
Workplace Safety
Last summer, the Illinois General Assembly enacted SB75, which among other mandates, requires all Illinois employers to provide annual anti-harassment training to their employees. Illinois employers have until December 31,...more
As previously reported, the Illinois Human Rights Act was amended to require employers to report adverse judgments and administrative rulings in cases involving sexual harassment or unlawful discrimination to the Illinois...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently developed a COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document to provide a central location for commonly asked questions concerning steps employers can take...more
In Verizon New York, Inc. (Verizon), the National Labor Relations Board (Board) recently found that a work rule reserving the right for the company to monitor and/or search personal property, and a rule permitting the company...more
7/8/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Personal Property ,
Purple Communications ,
Section 7 ,
Security Checks ,
Unions
As the COVID-19 crisis continues to develop, one question employers are beginning to ask is whether and when they are obligated to provide notices to employees under the federal and state WARN Acts. ...more
OSHA recently modernized its Whistleblower Protection Program Website. The redesigned site includes useful and interactive materials regarding whistleblower statutes enforced by OSHA, including a video that highlights...more
7/24/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) ,
Websites ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
Franczek recently hosted an at capacity seminar on preventing workplace violence. As a follow-up to that event, and as further introduction to Tracey Truesdale and Jason Patterson who frequently counsel employers on this...more
Amid the flurry of activity late in the legislative term in Springfield, the General Assembly passed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, making possession and consumption of cannabis legal in Illinois. Governor Pritzker is...more