The United States Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEOC”) has issued its final guidance on “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace,” the first of its kind in over 20 years. This final guidance builds on a variety...more
5/30/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Guidance ,
Gender Identity ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Protected Class ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Race Discrimination ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
On April 23, 2024, by a 3-2 margin, the FTC voted to finalize its controversial non-compete rule, which, generally, will prohibit businesses from entering into non-compete agreements with nearly all workers across the U.S....more
4/26/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) recently announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which could make at least 3 million more lower-wage workers overtime-eligible....more
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The decision explicitly reverses Roe v. Wade, thereby radically altering the legal and political...more
6/27/2022
/ Abortion ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
MHPAEA ,
Preemption ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS ,
Women's Rights
The Supreme Court has stayed OSHA from enforcing its vaccine-or-test rule for large private employers. In its opinion, the Court found that Congress did not grant OSHA the authority to issue such a sweeping rule. Empowered...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The New York State Department of Labor has issued proposed regulations interpreting and further defining the contours of the HERO Act’s joint labor-management workplace safety committees. We summarize the proposed...more
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the “Departments”) recently issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions—FAQs About Affordable Act Implementation, Part 50, Health Insurance Portability and...more
10/13/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VI ,
Title VII ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Vaccinations
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued model notices regarding COBRA premium assistance (a/k/a COBRA subsidies). As we wrote about here, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “Act”), Congress sought to...more
The new COVID-19 stimulus package is now law. As discussed below, it provides some employers an incentive to extend certain COVID-19 related leave benefits through Q1 2021.
Optional FFCRA Tax Credits Extended Through...more
The Department of Labor has again updated its guidance regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ("FFCRA"). How we got here...more
9/21/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exemptions ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
New Guidance ,
New Rules ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Small Business ,
Wage and Hour
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has updated its guidance yet again regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which went into effect on April 1, 2020. We wrote about the new law here. We also wrote about the DOL’s...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its 124-page temporary regulations of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) on April 1, 2020. DOL subsequently amended those regulations on April 10, 2020. Below...more
Just days before concluding its legislative session, the New York Legislature enacted a law focusing on an employer’s acquisition and use of applicant and employee wage and salary history when making decisions regarding...more
6/28/2019
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
NYCHRL ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
The New York State Legislature has passed an amendment to New York’s Achieve Pay Equity Act (the “Act”), which will prohibit pay discrimination against any employee based on his or her membership in any class protected by the...more
6/28/2019
/ Amended Legislation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
NYSHRL ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Protected Class ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
The wait is over. The New York State Department of Labor (DOL) just released its final guidance with respect to New York State’s new anti-sexual harassment law. The release includes final templates for the model sexual...more
10/3/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
NYDOL ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Zero Tolerance Policies
In the wake of the #MeToo movement and the nationwide discourse over the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace, New York State and New York City have taken aggressive steps to implement stronger protections against...more
5/1/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Hires ,
New Legislation ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws
Short of a successful (but highly unlikely) appeal, the Obama-era overtime rule is now officially no longer. That rule would have required employers to pay employees a little more than $47,000 annually to qualify under one of...more
9/1/2017
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Lack of Authority ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Obama Administration ,
Over-Time ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On February 16, 2017, the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals invalidated and revoked the NYS Department of Labor regulations governing payment of wages by direct deposit or payroll debit card. The regulations were...more
The Fourth Circuit recently ruled that a general contractor was the joint employer of employees of its subcontractor for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Salinas v. Commercial Interiors, Inc. has broad implications...more
On February 16, 2017, the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals invalidated and revoked the NYS Department of Labor regulations we wrote about previously (and updated here) governing payment of wages by direct deposit or...more
In October, we wrote about the new NYSDOL regulations for employers who use direct deposit and/or payroll debit cards to pay their employees. The regulations take effect on March 7, 2017 – just about a month from now – and...more
Just before Thanksgiving, a Texas federal court judge issued an injunction blocking the closely-watched new federal overtime rule from taking effect as scheduled on December 1, 2016. As expected, the DOL is not going quietly...more
Since a Texas federal judge blocked the U.S. Department of Labor’s overtime rule from taking effect in November, human resource managers, payroll professionals and employment attorneys (including over here at Employment...more
Employers across the country woke up this morning to news that a Texas District Court judge has blocked the DOL’s overtime rule from taking effect on December 1, 2016. This represents a stunning turn of events for employers....more
As all HR professionals and employment lawyers know (even those currently living under rocks), the Department of Labor’s final overtime rule is scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016 – less than two weeks from now. ...more