A new piece of legislation introduced in Congress, if enacted, would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to establish 32-hour workweek for non-exempt employees, with no loss in pay. While the bill is unlikely to gain steam, it...more
3/22/2024
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
Seyfarth Synopsis: Now that the Legislature’s September 14, 2023 deadline to pass bills to the Governor has come and gone, we are providing an overview of which employment bills are before the Governor for consideration,...more
9/19/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Cal-OSHA ,
Cal-WARN ,
California ,
Civil Code ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
FEHA ,
Labor Code ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Remote Working ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence
After Lengthy Confirmation Fight, Brace For Intrusive EEOC Action. On July 13, the Senate finally confirmed attorney Kaplana Kotagal — whom we have had numerous occasion to discuss in this space — to join the Equal Employment...more
7/27/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Arbitration ,
Biden Administration ,
Cannabis Products ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
International Shoe Co v Washington ,
LGBTQ ,
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
OSHA ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Transparency ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Injury
Aaaaaand we're back! As we did around the same time last year, we would like the thank the readers for y’all’s patience during our summer hiatus to allow our authors to take a short break to get some Vitamin D and replenish....more
6/29/2023
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
That AI Is So Hot Right Now, But What Is It? As we noted in this podcast, the labor and employment community – nay, most of the world – is struggling to figure out the best way to reap the benefits of AI, while most...more
5/17/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
California ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Machine Learning ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
SCOTUS ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Federal Salary Transparency Act. Much has been written recently regarding the various salary transparency and reporting laws that have sprouted from state Houses across the Nation (we spoke to California’s onerous...more
4/26/2023
/ California ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FEHA ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Transparency ,
Policy Statement ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: When the Legislature reconvenes from Spring Break on April 10, 2023, it will resume consideration of the employment bills that were among the 2,600 introduced. Notable employment bills include those...more
4/13/2023
/ Criminal Records ,
Fair Chance Act ,
FEHA ,
Layoff Notices ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
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 Employment Policy Highlights of 2022. This past term saw more legislation pass through congressional chambers at a more efficient clip than we have seen in quite some time. That does not mean that federal agencies were...more
1/16/2023
/ #MeToo ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Wage and Hour
Midterm Dust Finally Settles (For The Most Part). What do we know as of the publication of this newsletter? First, the results were not close to as red as most historians ventured, but republicans were still able to flip...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Today the U.S. Department of Labor issued its draft new interpretive regulation (or NPRM) attempting to define employee versus independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The NPRM...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Taking it down to the wire, Governor Newsom approved the vast majority of labor and employment bills that ran the legislative gauntlet, including bills that will expand pay data reporting and pay scale...more
10/4/2022
/ Bereavement Leave ,
Cal-OSHA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Layoffs ,
Marijuana ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Pay Transparency ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: Having run the legislative gauntlet, the fate of California’s 2022 employment bills now lie with Governor Newsom’s pen, including bills that would expand pay data reporting and pay scale requirements,...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: SB 1162, which may soon be signed into law, will require employers to report even more pay data to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD, formerly DFEH), including median and mean pay gap information....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: SB 1162, which may soon be signed into law, will require employers to report even more pay data to the California Civil Rights Department (f/k/a the Department of Fair Employment and Housing until July 1,...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
Seyfarth Synopsis: Headlining the employment-related bills that passed the May 27, 2022, House of Origin Deadline is AB 85, which extended COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave to September of this year, as well as bills...more
RISE and SHINE Act. It is just a discussion draft, so need to get too excited at the prospect of more bi-partisanship (maybe this author is alone in his excitement over that potential), but recently, Chair Patty Murray and...more
DOL’s 2023 Priorities, Per Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. Additional personnel topped Labor Secretary Marty Walsh’s wish list for 2023 as he laid out next year’s proposed budget at a hearing in front of the Subcommittee on...more
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
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 30, 2022, 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”) Administrator. This public rebuke – made possible...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: SB 62, which became effective January 1, 2022, makes those involved in the chain of garment manufacturing jointly and severally liable for certain labor law violations, and eliminates piece-rate...more
OSHA: From The Back Page To The Headlines. If asked in January of 2020 what exactly OSHA is and what it does within the Department of Labor, we would venture that the majority of PMN readers would not have a completely...more
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