On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its much-anticipated final rule raising the salary threshold for employees to be exempt from federal overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
4/30/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Popular ,
Salaried Employees ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On March 22, 2023, the NLRB's General Counsel issued a Memorandum (the “Memo”) providing guidance on the scope and effect of the National Labor Relations Board’s (the “NLRB”) decision in McLaren Macomb, which found overbroad...more
3/29/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Guidance Update ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Retroactive Application ,
Section 7 ,
Severance Agreements ,
Unfair Labor Practices
On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) issued a decision restricting the use of confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions in severance agreements with departing employees....more
3/6/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Section 7 ,
Separation Agreement ,
Severance Agreements ,
Termination
Over the next three months, recently passed laws requiring employers to include wage and salary ranges in job postings will take effect in California and New York City. These two jurisdictions join a growing number of states...more
On August 19, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) within the US Department of Labor published a notice in the Federal Register alerting federal contractors that the agency had received a Freedom...more
Overturning nearly 20 years of lower-court precedent, on April 4, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a landmark decision holding that an employer is strictly liable for treble damages for any late...more
Following a rare showing of bipartisan support, yesterday President Biden signed into law a landmark bill making it easier for individuals to pursue workplace sexual harassment claims in court and striking a blow to...more
Yesterday the Supreme Court stayed the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS), resolving months of legal uncertainty over its fate. In blocking the...more
On November 5th, 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an emergency regulation that assigns US employers a central role in the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Several...more
11/9/2021
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Comment Period ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Motion for Relief ,
OSHA ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Preemption ,
Public Comment ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Tenth Amendment ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On September 24, pursuant to President Biden’s September 9 Executive Order, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force published its anticipated guidance regarding the vaccination mandate and COVID-19 safety requirements for...more
10/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Certification Requirements ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Safety Precautions ,
Social Distancing ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In response to one of the worst outbreaks in the COVID-19 pandemic, attributable largely to the highly contagious Delta variant, President Biden on September 9 announced his six-prong Path Out of the Pandemic plan. To...more
9/13/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In the face of criticism for its recently proposed standards about mask wearing and social distancing, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal/OSHA”) has now announced revised amendments to its...more
On May 28, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released long anticipated guidance regarding mandatory employer vaccination policies. The updated guidance confirms that, at least under federal...more
As COVID-19 vaccinations become increasingly available to the general public, employers are considering whether to mandate or encourage their workers to get vaccinated. Below we share some common vaccine-related questions we...more
2/10/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On his first day in office, President Biden revoked a controversial executive order enacted in September 2020 by then-President Trump, which prohibited federal contractors from conducting certain types of workplace diversity...more
On December 16, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 guidance to clarify that employers may implement mandatory vaccination polices once a COVID-19 vaccine becomes widely available, but...more
Besides casting votes for federal, state, and local officials, voters throughout the country had the opportunity to change laws directly through ballot referendums on Election Day. Voters endorsed several ballot measures...more
On October 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register seeking information about any workplace diversity...more
10/29/2020
/ Bias ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Request For Information ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Subcontractors ,
Trump Administration
On September 22, 2020, President Trump issued Executive Order 13950, an Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping (the “Order”), prohibiting federal contractors from conducting workplace diversity or...more
10/7/2020
/ Bias ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Training ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Race Relations ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
On September 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued revised regulations implementing the Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) after a New York federal court struck down key provisions of the original...more
On July 6, Massachusetts released new guidance for employers as the state transitioned into Phase III of its reopening plan. Among the safety protocols for businesses including barber shops, fitness centers, and retail...more
On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued new COVID-19 related guidance to assist businesses deemed “non-essential” as they reopen their workplaces. The...more
In a landmark decision today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia that federal law protects gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender workers from employment discrimination.
In a 6-3 opinion...more
6/16/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
On June 11, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its question and answer document What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws. The latest Guidance,...more
6/16/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Workplace Safety
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidance on Wednesday describing how office buildings can reopen safely as states ease restrictions on non-essential businesses. The new voluntary...more