The 2024 California legislative session saw the passage of a number of new and important labor and employment laws...more
1/23/2025
/ California ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Pay ,
Freelance Workers ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence
Recent amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) establishing a new "whole-of-relationship test" increase the likelihood that Australian businesses will face claims of "sham contracting" by misclassifying employees as...more
12/19/2024
/ Australia ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Work Act ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
New Amendments ,
Wage and Hour
A government contractor challenged a U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ("OFCCP") enforcement scheme in federal court as violating the United States Constitution. The contractor...more
12/6/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Article II ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Removal For-Cause ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Wage and Hour
New legislation in Illinois introduces several changes, effective January 1, 2025, that will affect businesses with Illinois employees....more
12/4/2024
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Human Rights ,
Illinois ,
Job Ads ,
Labor Reform ,
Reproductive Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
Minnesota employers should be aware of several new employment laws that were included in the Omnibus Labor and Industry Policy bill and Omnibus Tax bill that were signed into law at the end of May, just before the close of...more
7/15/2024
/ Earned Sick and Safe Time Act ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Pay Transparency ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
California's Private Attorneys' General Act ("PAGA") was the target of a November 2024 ballot initiative that, if passed, would have repealed the Act in response to perceived abuses and frivolous lawsuits....more
On January 1, 2024, several new employment laws took effect in Minnesota, based on bills passed during the 2023 legislative session. All employers with employees in Minnesota are subject to the following changes, discussed in...more
The 2023 California legislative session saw the passage of a number of new and important labor and employment laws....more
In response to pressure from Congress, OFCCP has extended the deadline for contractors to object to disclosure of EEO-1 reports and opened the door for new objections....more
The California Legislature passed a number of new and important labor and employment laws during its 2022 session.
...more
Under legislation signed into law last week, New York employers cannot assess points, deduct time from a time bank, or otherwise penalize an employee for using a legally protected absence. The law takes effect February 20,...more
In Short -
The Situation: The national trend toward pay equity is gaining momentum, leading to transformative changes for employers. A growing list of states and local jurisdictions are enacting pay transparency laws,...more
The California Supreme Court sides with employees in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, finding derivative claims available for waiting time and pay stub penalties available for meal and rest break violations.
This...more
5/31/2022
/ Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Derivative Suit ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Rate of Pay ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Statements
On March 15, 2022, to coincide with this year's "Equal Pay Day," the OFCCP issued a new Directive on pay equity audits. Its stated purpose is to "provide guidance on how OFCCP will evaluate federal contractors' compliance...more
4/15/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
New Guidance ,
OFCCP ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Transparency ,
Wage and Hour
On 9 February 2022, the Australian High Court heard two appeals together—Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union & Anor v Personnel Contracting Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 1 ("Personnel") and ZG Operations Australia...more
3/3/2022
/ Australia ,
Employee Definition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
The California Supreme Court holds that "regular rate of compensation" used for calculating meal and rest period premiums is identical to "regular rate of pay" used for calculating overtime premiums, which includes hourly...more
7/20/2021
/ CA Supreme Court ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
Over-Time ,
Rate of Pay ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
The Situation: Recent amendments to the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 and Illinois Business Corporation Act of 1983 create significant new reporting and certification requirements for Illinois employers, along with new...more
The Situation: A district court in the Fifth Circuit granted conditional certification under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") to a class of allegedly misclassified truck drivers, analyzing certification using the widely...more
Ninth Circuit decision upholds the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA") determination that federal law preempts California’s meal and rest break laws with respect to Department of Transportation-regulated...more
The Department of Labor ("DOL") released a proposed rule on September 22, 2020, containing a new test for determining independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). In many cases, the new test...more
9/30/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Wage and Hour
The Situation: Seventeen states and the District of Columbia filed suit in the Southern District of New York seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the U.S. Department of Labor's ("DOL") new joint employer...more
9/17/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Joint Employers ,
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) ,
New Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
A Department of Labor rule provides that payments other than fixed salary are compatible with the fluctuating workweek method of calculating overtime pay under the FLSA.
The Department of Labor's Final Rule, which took...more
Employers navigating the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic cannot ignore the threat of labor and employment claims that may arise from the crisis. Indeed, a steady stream of pandemic-related lawsuits have already been filed,...more
6/1/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Wage and Hour ,
WARN Act ,
Workplace Safety