As we reported here, California lawmakers recently came to terms on a PAGA replacement bill. While this law was touted as a grand compromise intended to benefit both employees and employers, its effectiveness in reducing the...more
As we reported here, California voters had been tasked with deciding the future of California’s controversial Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”).
PAGA gives individual employees the right to step into the shoes of...more
On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court struck a blow to the NLRB and provided employers a major win in a case involving a preliminary injunction issued against Starbucks under §10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act....more
A bill on the ballot in California this November asks the state’s voters to give the controversial Private Attorney General’s Act (PAGA) a final approval or rejection. ...more
On June 15, 2022, in Viking River Cruises vs. Moriana, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 (with Justice Thomas the lone dissenter) that employers can compel arbitration of an employee's individual claims regarding labor code...more
6/17/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
SCOTUS ,
State Labor Laws ,
Viking River Cruises ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana ,
Waivers
On March 30, 2022, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana, in which the Court is poised to decide whether the Federal Arbitration Act compels enforceability of an individualized arbitration...more
Generally, the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) has routinely been enforced by the balance of the nation’s courts over the years, as it codifies accepted deference to parties’ contracts and agreements and has been held to...more
On August 13, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued updated guidance on mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. OSHA’s latest guidance is...more
8/19/2021
/ Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Guidance Update ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Social Distancing ,
Tax Credits ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On April 20, 2021, OSHA issued new guidance on when employers must report instances in which an employee suffers an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccination. According to the guidance, employers who require their employees...more
4/23/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Guidance Update ,
OSHA ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently revised federal guidance on using N95 respirators to take into account their increased availability. The tight-fitting respirators filter out 95% of airborne...more
OSHA released its latest guidance on when employers must notify it of workers being hospitalized or dying because of COVID-19. The new guidelines provide the following changes for reporting purposes...more
On May 19, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued an “updated interim guidance” memorandum to Compliance Safety and Health Officers (“CSHOs”) for enforcing the requirements under the...more
Benesch Law’s Labor and Employment group recently wrote on general labor and employment related concerns relative to COVID-19 in an article published on March 6, 2020. In just the last six days, thousands of additional cases...more
3/13/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Emergency Response ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Layoffs ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
OSHA ,
Quarantine ,
Telecommuting ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour ,
World Health Organization
Are these the “end times”? No, but the degree of threat that Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses to the world’s population keeps being debated in the print, broadcast, cable, and social media. Although the disease...more
3/9/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRA ,
OSHA ,
Risk Management ,
Workplace Safety
On January 12, 2020, the Department of Labor (Department) announced a final rule to revise and update its regulations interpreting joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (see prior alert on Department...more
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law a defense spending bill which included the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 (“Fair Chance Act”). Employers should take note that the law (1) prohibits the...more
1/7/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
OPM
On June 18, 2019, the New York legislature passed a bill that makes significant changes to the long-established standard for establishing unlawful harassment in the workplace. The most significant changes include...more
On June 3, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a decision of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that employers in discrimination claims can waive their right to assert that the Plaintiff failed to...more
6/4/2019
/ Administrative Procedure ,
Appeals ,
Certiorari ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exhaustion Doctrine ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Fort Bend County Texas v Davis ,
Jurisdiction ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Title VII
New Jersey recently enacted new legislation (NJ SB 121) that deems the inclusion of nondisclosure provisions regarding “the details relating to a discrimination, retaliation, or harassment claim” as against public policy and...more
5/6/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Exceptions ,
Harassment ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Popular ,
Public Policy ,
Retaliation ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment