U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act) into law on December 29, 2022. This combined legislation aims to bridge...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its proposal of a new rule on January 5, 2023, that would ban employers from imposing noncompete clauses on their workers and invalidate all existing noncompetes currently in...more
1/10/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
It has never been more important to conduct quality workplace investigations. Workers are demanding more of their employers, and demanding answers as well. Often, however, employers begin workplace investigations without...more
As part of more than 100 new pieces of legislation, on September 29, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1949. Effective January 1, 2023, AB 1949 adds section 12945.7 to the Government Code to require employers...more
Many San Francisco employers have faced new requirements to comply with the city’s amended Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance (FFWO), which went into effect on July 12, 2022, to provide flexible or predictable working...more
Seattle’s new Independent Contractor Protections Ordinance (the Ordinance) took effect on September 1, 2022. The law requires certain employers to provide independent contractors with disclosures both before entering a...more
The Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act (the CROWN Act or the Act) went into effect in Louisiana on August 1, 2022. The CROWN Act prohibits employment discrimination based on hairstyles and hair textures...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), on July 19, 2022, jointly issued a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding information sharing, cross-agency training, and outreach of...more
8/2/2022
/ Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gig Economy ,
Information Sharing ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unfair Labor Practices
Earlier this year, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law amendments to the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFML Amendments), which permit additional paid leave opportunities for new parents. The PFML...more
7/14/2022
/ Employee Handbooks ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Family Medical Leave ,
Governor Inslee ,
New Amendments ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
State and Local Government ,
Washington
With summer underway, employers in the state of Washington are reminded to follow the state’s new emergency outdoor heat exposure rules, which went into effect on June 15, 2022. These rules apply through September 29, 2022,...more
7/7/2022
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Heat Exposure ,
Labor Reform ,
New Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Washington ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
Ohio’s new firearm law, Ohio Senate Bill 215, went into effect on June 13, 2022, permitting all qualifying adults to legally carry, possess, or conceal a handgun that is not a restricted firearm without a license, background...more
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidance on May 12, 2022, regarding the use of software, algorithms, and artificial intelligence (AI) in assessing job applicants and employees. The EEOC’s...more
Governor Jay Inslee signed ESHB 2076 into law on March 31, 2022, making Washington the first state to require minimum per-trip payments, paid sick leave, and workers’ compensation benefits for rideshare drivers. The law also...more
As a matter of first impression, on April 7, 2022, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel held that two related employers may be treated as one integrated employer to meet the 15-employee headcount threshold...more
A judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, on March 17, 2022, denied defendant Scribe Opco, Inc.’s motion to dismiss a class action alleging violations of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining...more
4/26/2022
/ Appeals ,
But For Causation ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Florida ,
Layoff Notices ,
Layoffs ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Natural Disasters ,
WARN Act ,
Written Notice
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act in a 235-189 vote. According to the bill, passed on March 18, 2022, the long-standing racial and national origin...more
Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law the Silenced No More Act (Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1795) on March 24, 2022, making Washington the second state in the nation after California to prohibit employers from...more
4/6/2022
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Governor Inslee ,
Independent Contractors ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Washington
Washington Governor Jay Inslee, on March 30, 2022, signed into law amendments to the state’s Equal Pay and Opportunity Act (EPOA Amendments), which soon will require most Washington employers to include pay ranges and...more
4/4/2022
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Governor Inslee ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Transparency ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Washington
The Washington Legislature made several significant changes to the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program during the 2021 legislative session that all Washington employers should know. First, as of July 25,...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its long-awaited emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring all employers with a total of 100 or more employees to mandate...more
11/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Remote Working ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
In Port of Tacoma v. Sacks, the Court of Appeals of the State of Washington recently held that all out-of-town employee travel time is compensable under state law. The decision confirms the Washington State Department of...more
10/5/2021
/ Appeals ,
Compensation ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Travel Time ,
Traveling Employee ,
Wage and Hour ,
Washington
Overview of ESD Audits -
The Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) audits records of employers located in Washington to confirm that wages and hours are accurately reported and to ensure compliance with the...more
10/5/2021
/ Audits ,
Best Practices ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Wage and Hour ,
Washington
Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed the Health Emergency Labor Standards Act (HELSA) on May 11, 2021. HELSA went into effect immediately and applies to workplaces only during a declared public health emergency involving an...more
9/23/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Inslee ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Legislation ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
Workplace Safety
The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) filed a new emergency rule on July 16, 2021, that provides increased protection to employees who are exposed to wildfire smoke. The rule took effect immediately, though enforcement...more
On April 16, 2021, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law the Washington Wage Recovery Act, allowing employees to place a lien on their employers’ property to secure unpaid wages.
The purpose of the law is to provide...more
6/24/2021
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Inslee ,
Liens ,
New Legislation ,
Property Liens ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour