Like Katherine Heigl’s character in the 2008 film “27 Dresses,” employers in 2026 may run into an equally-numbered—albeit less quirky—quandary this year: a potential for 27 pay periods. And just as Heigl’s character...more
2/4/2026
/ 401k ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Notice Requirements ,
Payroll Periods ,
Payroll Taxes ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Following acting chair Andrea Luca’s earlier pledge to more aggressively enforce civil rights laws against employers who disadvantage U.S. workers, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released a new...more
12/17/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Reform ,
Job Ads ,
Labor Reform ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Technology Sector ,
Title VII ,
Visas
The City of Seattle recently succeeded in securing a partial injunction against the Trump Administration’s enforcement of two executive orders (EOs) under which the Administration threatened to withhold millions in federal...more
12/4/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Court Litigation ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
Gender Identity ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Separation of Powers ,
Trump Administration ,
Unconstitutional Condition
Originally introduced in the Senate in March 2025, Representative Donald Norcross (D-NJ) introduced the Faster Labor Contracts Act (“FLCA”) to the House of Representatives on September 16, 2025. The FLCA seeks to hasten the...more
11/24/2025
/ AFL-CIO ,
Arbitration ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Mediation ,
New Legislation ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Unions
Circuit Split Over Thryv Remedies. On October 20, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit generally upheld expanded make-whole remedies contemplated by the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) in Thryv,...more
11/24/2025
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Consequential Damages ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Damages ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Seventh Amendment ,
Split of Authority ,
Statutory Authority ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
Earlier last month, the Senate confirmed over 100 of President Trump’s nominees en bloc in a 51‑47 party-line vote. The confirmed nominees included Brittany Bull Panuccio as an EEOC Commissioner, Andrew Rogers as...more
After briefly releasing — and then quickly withdrawing — its regulatory agenda last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) has republished its Spring 2025 unified agenda.
...more
9/19/2025
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
OSHA ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting
Marc Seawright, former Director of Information Governance and Strategy at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), submitted a formal complaint with the EEOC alleging discrimination and harassment based on sex...more
9/17/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Gender Identity ,
Hostile Environment ,
Labor Law Violations ,
LGBTQ ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
The federal government recently unveiled America’s AI Action Plan (the Plan), a sweeping policy roadmap aimed at clearing away regulatory barriers, supercharging U.S. investment in infrastructure and talent surrounding AI,...more
8/11/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automated Decision Systems (ADS) ,
California ,
Colorado ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Illinois ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Texas
President Trump’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 includes substantial reductions to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) budget and staff. The proposed discretionary budget is slashed from $13.5 billion to $9...more
6/18/2025
/ Budget Cuts ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Budget ,
Government Agencies ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Wage and Hour
A federal judge in Texas issued a decision on May 15, 2025, striking down portions of the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on protections against employment discrimination based on gender identity and/or sexual orientation....more
6/3/2025
/ Appeals ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Deregulation ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Protection ,
Gender Identity ,
Labor Reform ,
Lack of Authority ,
LGBTQ ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Statutory Authority ,
Texas ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Vacated
The 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection window opened on May 20, 2025, and the deadline to file the 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 report is June 24, 2025. Filers should note that the collection window is shorter this year, and...more
5/30/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
EEO-1 ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
On April 30, 2025, Congressional Representatives Stephanie Bice (R-Oklahoma) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania) introduced the More Paid Leave for More Americans Act in the House of Representatives....more
5/21/2025
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda
Within the last two months, both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the armed services have followed Trump Administration directives to narrow or eliminate protections for transgender individuals....more
5/14/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Bans ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Military Service Members ,
Military Status ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration
During the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final regulation (the “2024 Rule”) seeking to increase the salary threshold for overtime eligibility for the “white-collar” exemption (also referred...more
5/14/2025
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deregulation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Labor Reform ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
In our previous post, we discussed the nationwide temporary restraining order issued by the United States District Court for the North District of Illinois that temporarily prevented the Department of Labor from requiring...more
4/18/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Judicial Authority ,
Labor Reform ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Trump Administration
On March 27, 2025, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a nationwide temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the Department of Labor (DOL) from requiring federal contractors and...more
4/16/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
First Amendment ,
Government Agencies ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
TRO ,
Trump Administration
On March 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the appointment of Catherine Eschbach as Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the agency charged with overseeing regulation and...more
4/4/2025
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Affirmative Action ,
Audits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Merit-Based Point System ,
OFCCP ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Veterans
Following President Trump’s issuance of Executive Order 14148 on January 20, 2025, which rescinded 78 executive actions taken by Former President Biden, the President rescinded an additional slew of Biden-era executive...more
On March 10, 2025, in a 67-32 vote, the Senate confirmed the appointment of one-term Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer as the 30th Secretary of Labor and former EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling as Deputy Secretary....more
On February 19, the EEOC, through its acting chair Andrea Lucas, pledged rigorous enforcement of civil rights laws against companies that show bias for foreign workers, including visa holders, over US citizens. The change...more
3/17/2025
/ Bias ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Foreign Workers ,
Labor Reform ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas