On this episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, host Brydon DeWitt is joined by Laura Windsor, chair of Williams Mullen’s Labor, Employment and Immigration Section, who discusses two hot issues: non-competes and...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its Final Rule on April 23, 2024, updating the minimum salary threshold for exemption from overtime payment obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Rule created...more
5/2/2024
/ Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Whether you are a founder or a manager, growing a company from scratch is an exciting process. For most companies, this process will involve the hiring and management of employees at a rapid pace....more
4/24/2024
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Compliance ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employment Contract ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Leave of Absence ,
Misclassification ,
Noncompliance ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Startups ,
Wage and Hour
In Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, et al., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the admissions practices used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, which...more
7/31/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VI ,
Title VII
A new Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR 52.204-27) clause prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from “having or using” the social networking service TikTok or any “successor application” developed by ByteDance, a...more
On June 29, 2023, in Groff v. DeJoy, the Supreme Court of the United States, in a rare unanimous decision written by Justice Samuel Alito, held an employer may deny a religious accommodation request from an employee only if...more
7/6/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS
On May 30, 2023, Jennifer Abruzzo, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (Board), issued a guidance memo (the “Memo”) stating that non-compete agreements or similar restrictive covenants in settlement...more
Williams Mullen attorneys Jim Burns (Antitrust & Trade Regulation) and Laura Windsor (Labor, Employment & Immigration) discuss the recent seismic movements at the FTC regarding a proposed rule banning non-competes in...more
The New Year has certainly started with a bang at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). First, the agency announced enforcement actions against three employers prohibiting those companies from using non-competition agreements...more
In December 2020, Washington, D.C. enacted one of the country’s most sweeping non-compete bans to date. The original Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020, which was signed into law by D.C. Mayor Muriel...more
On October 11, 2022, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposal for a new rule on how the DOL will determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee for purposes of the Fair...more
In August 2021, the Office of Management and Budget approved an information collection request requiring that all “covered” federal contractors and subcontractors use a newly-created OFCCP Contractor Portal to certify, on an...more
On Saturday, April 9, the Maryland General Assembly closed its legislative session by passing the Time to Care Act of 2022, overriding Governor Hogan’s earlier veto of Senate Bill 275. As such, Maryland has now joined just...more
On March 21, 2022, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s Safety and Health Codes Board (DOLI) held a public hearing to vote on whether to revoke the Department’s Permanent COVID-19 Regulation (Standard)...more
As we reported in September 2021, Virginia DOLI Issues New COVID-19 Rules for Employers, Virginia is one of the only states in the country that has workplace COVID-19 health and safety rules, including, most notably, rules...more
The United States Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from implementing and enforcing its OSHA vaccine-or-test requirements for large, private companies, see here.
In a 6-3 majority opinion, the Court found that...more
1/14/2022
/ Administrative Authority ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On Friday, December 17, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit lifted the stay on implementation and enforcement of the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that was previously issued by the Court of Appeals...more
On December 1, 2021, we provided an update on the current status of the various federal COVID-19 vaccine rules. In that alert, we noted that a federal court sitting in Kentucky issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily...more
12/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Many employers are struggling with the seemingly ever-shifting rules and requirements relating to COVID-19 vaccines. Indeed, although the Biden Administration initiated three sweeping rules earlier this Fall - one applicable...more
12/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Case Consolidation ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Stays ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) applicable to all private employers in the United States with 100 or more employees. ...more
11/9/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Penalties ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Virginia was one of the only states in the country that issued workplace health and safety regulations related to COVID-19. Indeed, as we reported back in June 2020, Virginia’s Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) issued...more
9/16/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor & Industry ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Governor Northam ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
New Rules ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
As anticipated, President Biden has continued to carry through on his presidential campaign promise to overhaul federal labor and employment laws. With the aim of protecting workers and encouraging competition, on July 9,...more
7/13/2021
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Low-Wage Workers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
On May 1, 2021, the Virginia Prevailing Wage Law (the “Law”), also referred to as the “Little Davis-Bacon Act,” became effective. The Law requires contractors and subcontractors working under any public contract over $250,000...more
On April 27, 2021, President Biden fulfilled a promise he made soon after taking office. He signed an Executive Order raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all companies holding federal contracts or subcontracts with...more
Beginning on July 1, 2021, Virginia employers will be subject to a new state overtime law that provides more stringent overtime requirements than those contained in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). On March 31,...more