In a highly anticipated ruling yesterday, the Northern District of Texas issued a final order, which enjoined and set aside the FTC’s Noncompete ban (the “Rule”). See Ryan, LLC v. FTC, No. 3:24-cv-00986-E (N.D. Tex. 2024)....more
8/21/2024
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Statutory Authority
With prior articles published in April and May, Nelson Mullins has been tracking the FTC Noncompete Final Rule banning non-competition provisions (the “Rule”) for months. The Rule remains on track to take effect on September...more
On June 28, 2024, a Texas federal judge issued an injunction temporarily blocking the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) new overtime rule from taking effect for employees working for the State of Texas. As discussed in a...more
7/3/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Labor Reform ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Salaried Employees ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Please join Nelson Mullins for a virtual webinar on the FTC Rules on non-competes....more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced on April 23 a final rule, Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees, which will take effect on July...more
6/5/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Labor Reform ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The below summary of frequently asked questions for employers concerning the Federal Trade Commission’s new rule governing non-competes (the “Rule”) is for general information purposes only. The below is not intended to and...more
5/13/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
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
Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a new rule redefining how workers are classified under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The final rule, which will make it more challenging to classify workers as...more
1/17/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Wage and Hour
On Sept. 1, 2023, California enacted a new law (SB 699, to be codified at Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code sec. 16600.5) reiterating its non-compete ban contained in Section 16600 that is effective Jan. 1, 2024.
New Section...more
The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) recently issued updates to the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFML). Included in the 2024 updates are changes to the required workplace poster and employee...more
12/20/2023
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family Medical Leave ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Medical Leave ,
Notice Requirements ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On Sept. 29, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued proposed updated workplace harassment guidance (the “Proposed EEOC Guidance”) for the first time since 1999. The Proposed EEOC Guidance, which is...more
10/10/2023
/ #MeToo ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Comment Period ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hostile Environment ,
Labor Reform ,
New Guidance ,
Public Comment ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII
On May 24, 2023, Minnesota enacted bill SF 3035, prohibiting noncompete agreements across the state. The law, which applies to agreements entered into by employees or independent contractors on or after July 1, 2023, defines...more
On June 30, 2023, the United States Supreme Court ended its October 2022 term. Many of the Court’s decisions from this past term are likely to impact employers of all sizes. Accordingly, this post is the first in a limited...more
7/13/2023
/ Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS
Illinois has enacted a new paid leave law, the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, providing for up to forty hours of paid leave for nearly all workers in the state. The law, which is scheduled to go into effect in 2024, will...more
In 2021, Colorado became the first state to enact a law requiring employers to list a salary range and benefits on job postings. This expansive law applied to any employer with one or more workers based in Colorado, and it...more
2/21/2023
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Pay Transparency ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
A January 13, 2023 rule proposed by nine federal agencies, including the Department of Labor, seeks to amend an assortment of regulations in order to clarify the rights and obligations of faith-based and community...more
2/16/2023
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Religious Institutions ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Title VII
Effective January 1, 2023, twenty-three states increased their minimum wage thresholds.
Washington will have the highest minimum pay rate at $15.74 per hour. Nebraska implemented the highest percentage-based wage...more
The long-awaited Washington, D.C. non-compete and anti-moonlighting law finally went into effect on Oct. 1, 2022. At the end of 2020, the Washington, D.C. Council passed the Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of...more
11/3/2022
/ Contract Terms ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Remote Working ,
Restrictive Covenants
Nelson Mullins is continuously monitoring trends and state law changes regarding restrictive covenants in employment agreements. Several states have recently enacted or modified legislation that may significantly restrict an...more
6/30/2022
/ Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Please join the Nelson Mullins Employment and Labor Group for a webinar on mediation best practices, featuring Steve Dunn of Miles Mediation. In a roundtable-style discussion, the panelists, including Steve Dunn, Erika Birg,...more
On March 24, 2022, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law ESHB 1795, which generally prohibits nondisclosure and nondisparagement provisions in agreements between employers and employees. The law, which applies to...more
On February 10, 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Ending Force Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (the “Act”, available here: H.R. 4445). President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law shortly. ...more
2/14/2022
/ #MeToo ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Binding Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Hostile Environment ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment
A recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the “SJC”) significantly expanded the Massachusetts common-law public policy exception to termination of at-will employees. This decision, Meehan v. Med. Info....more
2/4/2022
/ At-Will Employment ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Regulations ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Performance Reviews ,
Personnel Records ,
Public Policy ,
Statutory Rights ,
Wrongful Termination
On January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked OSHA’s “vaccine or test” Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) mandate in a split 6-3 decision. Without the ETS, employers are not required to mandate vaccinations, but...more
1/21/2022
/ 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
In a December 13, 2021 decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court adopted a standard heretofore applied in federal court for determining joint employer status. In Jinks v. Credico (USA) LLC, four plaintiff employees...more
1/12/2022
/ ABC Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
Sua Sponte ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wage and Hour
A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit dissolved the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal’s stay of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) with respect to COVID-19 on Dec. 17, effectively...more