More Fallout From The FTC Proposed Noncompete Rule. As Seyfarth summarized here, and we podcasted and summarized here, the FTC has published a proposed rule which would ban all non-compete agreements between employers and...more
Biden Officially Nominates Su To Replace Marty Walsh. This week, President Biden officially announced the nomination of Julie Su to replace Marty Walsh atop the Department of Labor. We have had numerous occasions to discuss...more
3/6/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Biden Administration ,
California ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc v Hewitt No 21-984 ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRB ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Severance Agreements ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Groundhog Day: Second Proposed Wage and Hour Boss Stuck By Senate HELP. After the Senate voted down a cloture motion to advance the nomination of Dr. David Weil to return as U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”)...more
Labor Agencies Beware: Congressional Oversight To Kick Up In 2023. Shortly after Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) ascension to the speakership, the House of Representatives reinstalled Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) as chair of the Committee...more
NLRB Proposes New Rulemaking On Joint Employment. The standard for determining joint employment for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act is primed to increase exposure for employers, especially employers with...more
Inflation Reduction Act Of 2022. After the so-called “vote-a-rama,” that lasted all night and into the morning last Saturday / Sunday, the Senate finally voted to pass the Act through reconciliation, by a 51-50 vote margin...more
8/16/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor DeSantis ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Public Schools ,
Stop Woke Act ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
Sens. Schumer and Manchin Finally Agree On Contours Of Next Reconciliation Package. We have been following, and reporting on, the saga surrounding the next democrat only package, originally designated the Build Back Better...more
Annnnd We're Back: Legislative Update. We appreciate this audience bearing with us as this newsletter has been on a short hiatus in light of some scheduling issues. During that brief respite numerous different pieces of...more
7/19/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
DFEH ,
EEO-1 ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Heat Exposure ,
Independent Contractors ,
Innovation ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Stop Woke Act ,
Vaccinations ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana ,
Wage and Hour ,
Ways and Means Committee ,
West Virginia v EPA ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Safety
Uniting for Ukraine. While, currently, there is more than enough political news to support the 24 hours news cycle, the ongoing crises in Ukraine continues to be one of the top beats. The U.S. has been in lockstep with its...more
COVID-19 Relief? It has been a nice respite not touching on COVID-19 recently in this space. But COVID-19 will likely remain an issue employers must front for the foreseeable future. To that end, on April 07, the House of...more
Biden Administration Pursues Labor Goals From All Angles, Despite Hiccups, With No Sign of Slowing Down. With the PRO Act stalled in the Senate and unlikely to pass in anything close to its existing form, the Biden...more
What SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer’s Retirement Portends For The LE World. The biggest news to come out of Washington D.C. in recent weeks is unquestionably the formal announcement of Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen...more
A New Year Brings New Hope, And A Little Vaccine Clarity. Below is a brief discussion of where the various vaccine mandates stand in the courts. But this space is intended to provide a broader update on all of the various...more
Build Back…Sometime? Despite Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s repeated assurances that the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) would pass the Senate before the holidays, many Democratic Senators have now conceded that BBBA...more
CMS And Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandates Blocked By Numerous Article III Judges. On Monday, a federal judge in Missouri issued a preliminary injunction declaring the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’)...more
The Two Relevant Policy Matters Are Really Big -- But Head Into The Weekend In A Holding Pattern. Below is a brief dabble into the history of a great American tradition. More importantly, though, the magnitude of the two main...more
11/22/2021
/ Bridges ,
Broadband ,
College Athletes ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Marijuana ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Recreational Use ,
Roads
President Biden Calls On Congress To Eliminate Subminimum Pay For Disabled Workers. The White House has called on Congress to eliminate a program under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act that allows employers to...more
Will-They-Won’t-They Saga Continues: As we noted, about two weeks ago, more centrist democrats in the House pushed the speaker into a promise to hold a vote on the bi-partisan infrastructure bill passed by the Senate on...more
10/4/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Broadband ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Infrastructure ,
NLRB ,
OCR ,
Telecommunications
A lot of relevant policy matters have happened over the past two weeks. We have seen significant progress on the dual-track infrastructure plan; this year’s legislative session in California came to a close, bringing heftier...more
House Leadership Holds The Line On Dual-Track Infrastructure Bill(s) Strategy. Earlier this week, media concerns abounded that moderate house democrats might throw an immovable wrench in the serious progress with the...more
The Senate, Finally, Takes A Baby Vote On The Bipartisan Infrastructure Proposal. On Wednesday, the Senate voted 67-32 to advance the proposal, with 17 Republicans joining all Democrats to begin legislative action. The vote...more
A Bipartisan Deal On Infrastructure Remains Out Of Grasp. Last week, the GOP offered a counter proposal to Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, topping out at – so close – almost $1 Trillion. However, the GOP offer only included...more
The Parliamentarian Has Spoken: Minimum Wage Can’t Be Raised Through Reconciliation. At this point, readers of this newsletter are assuredly aware of the substantive contours and the procedural hurdles Joe Biden’s COVID-19...more
The Fight For $1.9: Administration Remains Committed To Passing COVID-19 Legislation, Even Without Republican Backing. Unlike previous updates on the “will they won’t they” back-and-forth of COVID-19 / Stimulus Legislation...more
This Space – For Now – Will Continue To Summarize Congress’ COVID-19 Stimulus Attempts. To that end, before he was sworn in by the Chief Justice, President Biden released the contours of a $1.9 Trillion legislative package...more