The House Returns, Shutdown Looms. The U.S. House of Representatives returned this week from its August break. As the Buzz has discussed recently, the federal government appropriations process is front and center, and all...more
9/18/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Congressional Committees ,
Construction Industry ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Budget ,
Government Shutdown ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Wage and Hour
Congress Returns, Eyes Finish Line. The U.S. Senate reconvened this week following its August recess. Meanwhile, members of the U.S. House of Representatives continued to hit the snooze alarm, as they will return to their...more
9/11/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Confirmation Proceedings ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
NLRB ,
OMB ,
Pay Data ,
Portal ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Secretary of Labor ,
White Papers
DOL Proposes Changes to Overtime Regulations. On August 30, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it would issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the regulations implementing the overtime provisions...more
9/5/2023
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Safety Inspections ,
Third-Party ,
Union Elections ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Congress May Kick Appropriations Can to December. Like many of us, our elected federal legislators have grown more comfortable with working remotely. That is why this week, even though the U.S. Congress was out on its August...more
Congress Breaks While Shutdown Looms. It is August in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Congress is on recess. When our federal legislators return in September, their top priority will be to fund the federal government beyond...more
Su Slips. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su’s chances of becoming the actual secretary of labor continued to dwindle this week. Multiple media reports indicate that the administration is no longer pushing for Su’s...more
7/31/2023
/ Child Labor ,
Congressional Committees ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Form I-9 ,
Heat Exposure ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Minimum Wage ,
OLMS ,
OSHA ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Wage and Hour
Su Nomination in Limbo. Late last week, Senator Joe Manchin publicly voiced his opposition to Julie Su’s nomination to be secretary of labor. ...more
Congress Returns, Works on “Must Pass” Bills. Following their Fourth of July recess, members of the U.S. Congress returned to Washington, D.C., this week and turned their attention to several “must pass” pieces of...more
7/17/2023
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NDAA ,
NLRB ,
Nominations ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Wage and Hour
SCOTUS Recap. Because the Buzz was away briefly, we want to make sure that our readers have seen the thoughtful insights prepared by our colleagues on the impacts to employers stemming from the Supreme Court of the United...more
7/10/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
College Admissions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ,
Mining ,
NLRA ,
OIRA ,
Pay Data ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Rules ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Silica ,
Title VII
West Coast Ports: Parties Reach Agreement. This week, ocean carriers and terminal operators at the twenty-nine West Coast ports in the United States announced a tentative agreement with the labor union that represents their...more
Debt Limit Done. Now What? With the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the rearview mirror, this week the U.S. Congress turned to other matters. The U.S. Senate spent the week focusing on nominations to federal agencies. ...more
6/12/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Debt Ceiling ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Budget ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Property Damage ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Unions
Debt Ceiling Disaster Dodged. After months of political posturing, weeks of negotiating, and days of nail-biting, the U.S. Congress approved legislation to lift the debt limit to ensure continued payment of the nation’s...more
6/5/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Debt Ceiling ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Monitoring ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Budget ,
Native American Issues ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Trade Secrets
Senate Committee Vets Biden’s Labor Pick. -
On April 20, 2023, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a confirmation hearing on Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su’s nomination to be...more
4/24/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Confirmation Proceedings ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Unions
POTUS Issues First Veto. On March 20, 2023, after more than two years in office, President Biden issued his first legislative veto. As expected, President Biden rejected the bipartisan Congressional Review Act resolution that...more
3/27/2023
/ Administrative Priority ,
Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-1B ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Presidential Veto ,
Retirement Plan ,
Scheduling Letters ,
Severance Agreements
Walsh Exits. March 10, 2023, marked Marty Walsh’s last day as U.S. secretary of labor. The duties of the secretary are now being handled by Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, who is waiting on the U.S. Senate to act on her...more
POTUS Nominates Su to Lead DOL. This week, President Biden nominated Julie Su to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) (the current secretary, Marty Walsh, is scheduled to leave his position later this...more
3/6/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Child Labor ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
FOIA ,
OFCCP ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Wage and Hour
SCOTUS Rules in OT Case … More Challenges on the Way? On February 22, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a 6–3 decision holding that an employee making $200,000 each year is entitled to overtime pay under the...more
2/27/2023
/ Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fees ,
Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc v Hewitt No 21-984 ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
NLRB ,
Over-Time ,
SCOTUS ,
Severance Agreements ,
USCIS
Wilson Leaving FTC. Christine Wilson, the only Republican commissioner serving on the Federal Trade Commission, announced this week that she would be resigning her position. In an opinion piece printed by an internationally...more
Biden’s SOTU, Part II. This week, President Biden delivered his second State of the Union (SOTU) address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress. (Over the years, the Buzz has been quite candid with our feelings about the...more
POTUS Re-ups Labor Nominees. This week, President Biden renominated Jessica Looman to serve as administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division and José Javier Rodriguez to serve as assistant...more
1/30/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fraud ,
GAO ,
OFCCP ,
PBGC ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Withdrawal Liability
U.S. House of Representatives Gets to Work. Hours after the Buzz published on January 6, 2023, Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was elected Speaker of the House on the fifteenth round of voting. With that, members were...more
117th Congress Works on Last-Minute Bills as Holidays Loom. Nothing is more typical of the holiday season in Washington, D.C., than a last-minute legislative crisis in the U.S. Congress, and this year is no different. With...more
DOL Extends IC Proposal Comment Period. On October 25, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division announced an extension of the public comment period for its proposal to amend the independent contractor...more
10/31/2022
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Disputes ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Posting Requirements ,
Railroads ,
Relief Measures ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
DOL Proposes New Independent Contractor Test. On October 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published a notice of proposed rulemaking—“Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the...more
10/17/2022
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Federal Contractors ,
FOIA ,
Independent Contractors ,
NDAA ,
Pay Data ,
Railroads ,
Strike ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Lawmakers Avoid Shutdown, Extend Government Funding Deadline. The U.S. Congress narrowly averted a federal government shutdown this week, as it approved a stopgap continuing resolution to keep the government funded and...more
10/3/2022
/ Affirmative Action ,
Apprenticeships ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
FAAP ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
Fraud ,
Government Shutdown ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OIG ,
Unemployment Benefits