With the federal government shutdown ending, employers need to shift gears fast. Key federal agencies will soon resume normal operations, and we’ll see regulatory action and oversight surge back into motion. This is the...more
11/17/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Shutdown ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Subcontractors ,
USCIS ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals just handed employers a significant win yesterday by vacating a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision involving an employee who displayed the letters “BLM” (for “Black Lives...more
11/7/2025
/ Appeals ,
Black Lives Matter ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dress Codes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Political Speech ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Section 7 ,
Unfair Labor Practices
Retention bonuses – which are payments conditioned on continued employment through a fixed date – are not “wages” under the Massachusetts Wage Act, even when all contingencies have been met, according to the Massachusetts...more
A federal appeals court just dealt another blow to the National Labor Relations Board’s effort to expand monetary remedies against employers – and the widening split among federal circuits makes Supreme Court review...more
11/4/2025
/ Back Pay ,
Compensatory Damages ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Lack of Authority ,
NLRB ,
Pecuniary Losses ,
Split of Authority ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Wage and Hour
As hurricanes devastate the Caribbean, employers in the US are preparing for a potential impact late in the season. This detailed set of Frequently Asked Questions, fully updated for 2025, addresses the workplace-related...more
10/31/2025
/ Business Closures ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disaster Preparedness ,
Employee Assistance Programs ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hurricane Season ,
Labor Relations ,
Layoffs ,
Leave of Absence ,
Natural Disasters ,
Severe Weather ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
A group of Senate Democrats recently introduced legislation designed to bring federal oversight to college athletics’ increasingly chaotic NIL landscape. The September 29 bill, known as the Student Athlete Fairness and...more
10/8/2025
/ Broadcasting ,
College Athletes ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Health and Safety ,
Name and Likeness ,
NCAA ,
Preemption ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Revenue Sharing ,
SAFE Act ,
Scholarships ,
School Sports ,
Student Athletes ,
Universities ,
Women in Sports
Now that the federal government is officially in shutdown mode, employers will need to assess the impact it will have on their operations. Notably, various government services that you rely on will be disrupted, including...more
10/2/2025
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Shutdown ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
USCIS ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) just sued New York over its new labor law that attempts to regulate areas that the Board claims are “explicitly reserved for federal oversight.” As more states consider measures to...more
10/1/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Jurisdiction ,
Labor Disputes ,
Labor Relations ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Popular ,
Preemption ,
Private Sector ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Supremacy Clause
As employee expression spills into every corner of the modern workplace, employers are trying to figure out the best way to respond to all sorts of activity. From off-hours protests to heated workplace debates and viral...more
A federal judge recently gave Massachusetts nonprofit universities and healthcare providers significant relief from costly wage lawsuits – and employers should apply lessons from the decision to aid their own compliance...more
Rhode Island employers must keep up with new workplace laws enacted this year, including some that have already taken effect. The state not only joined a growing number of states that prohibit so-called “captive audience”...more
8/4/2025
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hotels ,
Human Trafficking ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Political Speech ,
Posting Requirements ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Rental Property ,
Rhode Island ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
In yet another sweeping move impacting college athletics, President Trump just signed an Executive Order seeking to ban “third-party, pay-for-play payments to collegiate athletes,” while still allowing athletes to enter into...more
7/25/2025
/ College Athletes ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employees ,
Executive Orders ,
Name and Likeness ,
Pay-To-Play ,
School Sports ,
Student Athletes ,
Trump Administration ,
Universities ,
Wage and Hour
Oregon and Washington just became the latest states to make striking employees eligible for unemployment compensation benefits. This marks a major policy shift for both states – especially for Washington, which currently...more
7/24/2025
/ Employee Benefits ,
Labor Disputes ,
Lockouts ,
New Legislation ,
Oregon ,
Public Sector ,
State Labor Laws ,
Strike ,
Tax Rates ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Unions ,
Washington
After several months without a functioning quorum, President Trump nominated James Murphy and Scott Mayer to fill vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board late last week, signaling the potential for a significant...more
7/21/2025
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Protected Activity ,
Quorum ,
Section 7 ,
Severance Agreements ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
The Supreme Court will soon decide whether states can ban transgender high school and college athletes from participating on female sports teams at their schools. After initially declining to review this issue in 2023 and...more
7/17/2025
/ Athletes ,
College Athletes ,
Colleges ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Contingency Plans ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Protection ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
Gender Identity ,
NCAA ,
Risk Management ,
School Districts ,
School Policies ,
School Sports ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sports ,
Student Athletes ,
Title IX ,
Transgender ,
Universities ,
Women in Sports
Next month marks the second anniversary of a controversial National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision that overruled decades-old precedent and made it easier for unions to organize but harder for employers to counter...more
7/14/2025
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Cemex ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
Secret Ballot ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Union Organizers ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions
New Hampshire just implemented a new law that guarantees nursing mothers accommodations such as an unpaid 30-minute break to express breast milk every three hours. Effective July 1, this new state law (which follows the...more
College athletics is racing headfirst into a new era – and some lawmakers want Congress to be the referee. With the bipartisan introduction of the Student-athlete Protections and Opportunities through Rights, Transparency,...more
College sports have changed forever in a watershed moment that will fundamentally reshape the structure of Division I athletics. Following extensive briefing, nearly five hours of final argument, and multiple revisions to...more
6/10/2025
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Back Pay ,
Class Action ,
College Athletes ,
Colleges ,
Compensation ,
Educational Institutions ,
Name and Likeness ,
NCAA ,
Revenue Sharing ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Student Athletes ,
Universities
On top of the House v. NCAA settlement that’s poised to upend amateurism, recent challenges to the NCAA’s eligibility rules threaten to disrupt another longstanding practice in college athletics. Most recently, a federal...more
5/28/2025
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
College Athletes ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Eligibility ,
Name and Likeness ,
NCAA ,
School Sports ,
Student Athletes ,
Universities
A video game developer needs to hope that the Force is with it as it squares off with a union over the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace. SAG-AFTRA just filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against Epic...more
5/27/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bargaining Units ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Terms ,
NLRA ,
Popular ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
The Supreme Court late Thursday permitted the Trump administration to bar former Democrat NLRB Member Gwynn Wilcox from her former position on the Board while the larger battle plays out about whether the President has the...more
As political tensions surge and employee expression spills into every corner of the modern workplace, employers are finding themselves caught in the crossfire. From off-hours protests to heated workplace debates and viral...more
Chief Justice John Roberts just ensured that President Trump’s unprecedented termination of Democrat NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox will stand for now – and it appears the battle could be heading to a final conclusion in the...more
4/10/2025
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employment Litigation ,
Executive Authority ,
Judicial Authority ,
Judicial Review ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Quorum ,
Reinstatement ,
Removal ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Termination ,
Trump Administration
On the final day of “March Madness,” the NCAA’s attention shifted from basketball courts to the courtroom, where a federal judge signaled a high likelihood that she would sign off on a settlement agreement that would end...more
4/9/2025
/ College Athletes ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Name and Likeness ,
NCAA ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Revenue Sharing ,
Scholarships ,
School Sports ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Title IX ,
Universities