Back in April 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final rule that would have banned non-compete agreements nationwide as of September 4, 2024. (You can read our alert on the FTC’s final rule here.) However, on...more
9/18/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court held that the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) is subject to the same standard as any other litigant when it seeks a preliminary injunction in unfair labor practice cases. This...more
6/20/2024
/ Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Starbucks ,
Starbucks Corp. v McKinney ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
In an anticipated yet groundbreaking turn of events, on April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 3-2 to issue a Final Non-Compete Clause Rule (the “Final Rule”) which bans U.S. employers from using...more
4/26/2024
/ Competition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Notice Requirements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
For more than a year, the Federal Trade Commission has been mulling on whether the federal government should regulate employee non-compete agreements. Traditionally, those agreements limit where and for whom an employee may...more
As expected, in the last month the National Labor Relations Board has continued to issue decisions that reverse Trump-era precedents and expand the protections available to employees and unions. In Noah’s Ark Processors, LLC...more
6/2/2023
/ Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Unions
Following the official ending of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released a number of key updates to its COVID-19 technical assistance document, “What you Should...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed a new rule which, if adopted, would ban U.S. employers from using non-compete agreements. In its notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPR”), the FTC sought public...more
In a unanimous decision, the Illinois Supreme Court determined that the Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) is pre-empted by the Labor Management Relations Act for many employees covered by a collective bargaining...more
4/25/2023
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
LMRA ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Preemption
On March 15, 2023, the Chicago City Council overwhelmingly voted to approve an ordinance requiring labor peace agreements between workers and Chicago-funded nonprofit organizations providing critical public health and social...more
4/6/2023
/ City of Chicago ,
Contractors ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Illinois ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Public Health Service (PHS) ,
Social Services ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Unions
Last year, we wrote about former National Football League coach Brian Flores and his lawsuit in February 2022 alleging racial discrimination against the NFL and several of its teams. In his lawsuit, Flores claimed that the...more
3/16/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Athletes ,
Contract Terms ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Football ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Minorities ,
NFL ,
Race Discrimination
On Friday, February 17, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court issued another blockbuster ruling interpreting the Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”). In a 4 to 3 decision, the Court in Cothorn v. White Castle Systems held...more
2/20/2023
/ Accrual Requirements ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Damages ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Fingerprints ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information
The Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (“BIPA”) has been a fertile source of class action litigation in recent years as courts continue to grapple with the scope of potential liability of employers and other entities who have...more
2/13/2023
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fingerprints ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Statutory Violations
Happy New Year! Several employment laws became effective January 1, 2023, and our team at Franczek P.C. has compiled them in its new Labor & Employment Law Legislative Update, focused on new laws in effect in 2023. The new...more
1/10/2023
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Illinois ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Minimum Wage ,
State Constitutions ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
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
Brian Flores’ recent class action race discrimination lawsuit against the National Football League and its teams provides a cautionary tale as to what can happen when an organization professes to value diversity, equity and...more
This morning, the United States Senate passed a bill creating the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021.” The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this week, meaning...more
2/10/2022
/ #MeToo ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment
On Thursday, the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued its long-awaited emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccinations or weekly testing...more
11/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Rules ,
OSHA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On Thursday night, October 28, 2021, the Illinois General Assembly passed House Floor Amendment 3 to Senate Bill 1169, which amends the Health Care Right to Conscience Act (HCRCA) to allow employers the right to “take any...more
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
Recently, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation significantly amending the Illinois Freedom to Work Act, which governs the legality and enforceability of non-compete agreements and other post-employment restrictive...more
In week six, the Administration’s labor and employment activity includes a major roadblock to the $15 federal minimum wage increase, an extension of unemployment benefits by the DOL, and unexpected silence by the...more
3/1/2021
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
On December 16, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) expanded on its COVID-19 Q&A guidance to address the interplay of vaccines with employment discrimination laws. While the agency confirms that...more
12/18/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
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
On September 18, 2018, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood reached a settlement with WeWork a shared offices company that provides services around the world. Illinois and New...more
Just like the leaves turning colors, you can count on a flurry of court filings from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) every September as the agency rushes to get cases on file before the end of its fiscal...more
10/4/2017
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Home Depot ,
Hostile Environment ,
LGBTQ ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Popular ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII