It is old news to most covered employers that they are obligated to post certain notices for their workforce. What these employers may not know, however, is that the EEOC recently updated and replaced its “EEO is the Law”...more
On Friday, October 14, 2022, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (“Task Force”) announced that they anticipate further guidance will be issued following the narrowing of the...more
10/18/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
OMB ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On October 11, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed rule to update the test for determining whether a worker is an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or an independent contractor. FLSA...more
10/12/2022
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
On September 23, 2022, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) proposed additional rules relating to Local Law 144 of 2021, which will regulate the use of automated employment decision tools...more
I. The State of the U.S. Workforce -
In the early months of the pandemic, jobs declined by a staggering 22.2 million. The good news is that jobs recovery has been on the rise since February 2020. In July, the number of...more
On September 6, 2022, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board delivered employers a slightly belated Labor Day “present” – a proposal to revise yet again its standard for determining joint-employer status under the National...more
On August 26, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a lower court’s injunction of Executive Order 14042, President Biden’s executive order requiring employees working on federal government contracts...more
On July 12, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its COVID-19 FAQs, with specific emphasis on viral testing, antibody tests, and other issues relating to workplace safety. The agency’s update...more
On June 27, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida denied a request to enjoin the provisions of Florida HB 7, named the Individual Freedom Act (“IFA”) or the so-called “Stop-WOKE” law (the state’s...more
6/29/2022
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Bias ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Florida ,
Freedom of Expression ,
Governor DeSantis ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
New Legislation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Race Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Stop Woke Act
On June 23, 2022, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo released Memorandum GC 22-06, relating to her efforts “to secure full remedies” in settlements with the Board. This follows on her prior...more
On April 22, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law so-called “anti-woke” legislation, amending the Florida Civil Rights Act and potentially limiting the ability of employers to include discussions of “implicit...more
On March 18, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, calling for the most sweeping revisions to the rules governing Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) enforcement since...more
Two noteworthy developments have occurred since the California Fair Employment & Housing Council released draft revisions to the state’s employment non-discrimination laws on March 15, 2022 that relate to the nascent law...more
On March 24, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) handed down a key ruling that could have a significant impact on franchising across the state. In Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc., the SJC was asked whether the...more
On March 15, 2022, the California Fair Employment & Housing Council released draft revisions to the state’s employment non-discrimination laws that would dramatically expand the liability exposure and obligations of employers...more
3/18/2022
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
California ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
Machine Learning ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Public Meetings ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State Labor Laws
On March 14, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas delivered a victory for businesses that utilize independent contractors, and for independent contractors themselves, when it held that the...more
3/16/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Statutory Violations ,
Wage and Hour
With the U.S. Supreme Court’s consideration of challenges to the OSHA Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard and the CMS Vaccine Mandate making the headlines, less attention has been paid to the federal...more
1/20/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court granted emergency relief to stay implementation of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) regarding COVID-19. ...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On Friday, January 7, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument regarding two of the Biden administration’s most contentious COVID-19 workplace health and safety policies: the Occupational Safety and Health...more
1/5/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Oral Argument ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
New York City marked the end of 2021 by enacting a law that will make it challenging, if not infeasible, to use a broad swath of algorithmic, computerized tools to review, select, rank or eliminate candidates for employment...more
12/28/2021
/ Algorithms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Machine Learning ,
New Regulations ,
New York ,
Popular
On December 16, 2021, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (the “Standards Board”) adopted its second set of proposed revisions to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) COVID-19...more
12/20/2021
/ Cal-OSHA ,
California ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
New Rules ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On November 30, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued an order granting a preliminary injunction to block the enforcement of the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors...more
12/1/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA) ,
Federalism ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Non-Delegation Doctrine ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Tenth Amendment ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Alabama joined other states in pushing back against federal workplace vaccine mandates. On November 5, 2021, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed into law Senate Bill 9 that places new limits on Alabama employers’ ability to...more
11/9/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The federal government’s complicated multi-pronged approach to implementing COVID-19 safeguards related to federal contractors has left many confused. ...more
10/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Earlier this month, President Biden released his COVID-19 Action Plan, Path Out of the Pandemic (Plan) with the stated goal of getting more people vaccinated....more
9/27/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety