Railroads Back on Track. After months of negotiating - and a very tense last few days - the national freight railroads have reached tentative agreements with the labor unions representing their employees. The agreements avert...more
9/19/2022
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
FOIA ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Railroads ,
Retirement ,
Strike ,
Trade Unions
Congressional Update. It’s the dog days of summer in Washington, D.C., and both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives are out on recess. But Congress is still making news....more
8/15/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Congressional Committees ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OSHA ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proxy Voting ,
Wage and Hour
Senate Scrambles Ahead of Summer Escape. While members of the U.S. House of Representatives returned home for the August congressional recess, the U.S. Senate remained in Washington, D.C., this week to wrap up some...more
8/8/2022
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Congressional Committees ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Energy Projects ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Funding ,
Finland ,
NATO ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Sweden ,
Tax Credits
Report on EEO-1 Data Confirms Flaws Yet Recommends Expansion. On July 28, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine titled...more
8/1/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gig Economy ,
Heat Exposure ,
Independent Contractors ,
Information Reports ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Safety Standards ,
Wage and Hour
EEOC Updates COVID-19 Guidance. On July 12, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its COVID-19 guidance as it relates to the testing of employees in the workplace. Since the start of the pandemic, the...more
7/18/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appropriation ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Contractors ,
Guidance Update ,
NDAA ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
Service Contracts ,
Union Elections ,
Union Representatives ,
Wage and Hour
Members of the U.S. Congress were out this week for their Independence Day break, but they are scheduled to return during the week beginning July 11, 2022, when they will begin a busy three-week legislative period leading up...more
Biden Administration Releases Regulatory Plans -
Maybe someone in the White House just read the Buzz’s Summer Forecast, because on June 21, 2022, the Biden administration released its Spring 2022 Unified Agenda of...more
Last week, in part one of our two-part Summer Forecast of labor and employment-related legislative and agency developments, the Buzz took a look at the U.S. Congress and what our legislators might have in store for employers...more
6/13/2022
/ Blacklist ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
USDA ,
Wage and Hour
DOL Appeals Reinstatement of Independent Contractor Rule. Late last week, the administration filed its notice of appeal of the recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to reinstate the...more
EEOC, DOJ Issue Guidance on AI in the Workplace. -
On May 12, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) each issued guidance documents addressing potential...more
5/16/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Blacklist ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Law Violations ,
New Guidance ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Trump-Era Independent Contractor Rule Reinstated. In a decision issued on March 15, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas reinstated the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) rule, “Independent Contractor...more
3/21/2022
/ Caregivers ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Independent Contractors ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
OFCCP ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
In a rare moment of bipartisanship - particularly in the labor and employment policy sphere - the U.S. Congress this week passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. The bill...more
2/14/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Biden Administration ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Logistics ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Trucking Industry ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has notified President Joe Biden of his intention to retire at the end of the Court’s current term. Interestingly, Justice Breyer indicated that his retirement would perhaps be conditioned...more
SCOTUS Halts OSHA’s Vax-or-Test ETS (but Greenlights CMS Rule). On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States stayed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing...more
1/17/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Mandates ,
Filibuster ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Reimbursements ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Voting Rights
With 2022 underway, set forth below are the major labor and employment policy issues that the Buzz is keeping an eye on as we begin a new (midterm election) year.
COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements. Today the Supreme Court of...more
1/10/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Commuting ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Oral Argument ,
OSHA ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Relief Measures ,
SCOTUS ,
Severe Weather ,
Union Organizers ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Build Back Better...in 2022? Over the last several weeks, the Buzz has been monitoring congressional Democrats’ efforts to pass the Build Back Better Act, a $1.7 trillion social-spending package containing, among other...more
House Builds Back Better. After months of starts, restarts, delays, and negotiations, the U.S. House of Representatives finally passed the Build Back Better Act on November 19, 2021, by a vote of 220–213. The bill would...more
Infrastructure Bill Passes - Now What? Both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives are out this week. But before they left for home, on November 5, 2021, the House of Representatives passed the Infrastructure...more
11/12/2021
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infrastructure ,
New Legislation ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Public Comment ,
Religious Exemption ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations
Congressional Update: Debt Limit Crisis and Reconciliation Plans.
Both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives were officially out this week, but the U.S. Congress still made some news....more
10/18/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Budget Reconciliation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Debt Ceiling ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Budget ,
Fiduciary ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Influenza ,
Infrastructure ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Nancy Pelosi ,
OSHA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Raids ,
USCIS ,
Vaccinations
Crisis Averted. For Now. Another week, another major crisis in the U.S. Congress (and the country, for that matter). Last week, it was funding for the federal government. ...more
Congressional Update, Part I: Budget Brinksmanship.
This time next week, we could be in the middle of a government shutdown. Always the masters of brinksmanship, our congressional legislators still do not have a deal to...more
9/27/2021
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
Government Shutdown ,
Heat Exposure ,
International Travel ,
Joint Employers ,
OSHA ,
Path To Citizenship ,
Political Parties ,
Reconciliation ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Hazards
Congressional Update -
Various committees in the U.S. House of Representatives continued to work this week on their respective portions of the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” reconciliation bill-proposed...more
9/20/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Infrastructure ,
Infrastructure Financing ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Tipped Employees ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Vaccinations
Democrats Begin Process of Enacting Administration’s Domestic Goals.
It took some good old-fashioned politicking, but earlier this week the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that...more
8/30/2021
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Budget ,
Human Capital ,
Infrastructure ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Charge ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
RIP, Richard Trumka. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka died unexpectedly this week at the age of 72. A former coal miner, Trumka became president of the United Mine Workers of America in 1982....more
8/9/2021
/ AFL-CIO ,
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Arbitration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infrastructure ,
Minimum Wage ,
Olympics ,
Pending Legislation ,
Pregnancy ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Tax Credits ,
Unions
Infrastructure Bill: Game On! After weeks of negotiating, there is finally bipartisan agreement in the U.S. Senate to move forward with a $550 billion bill to fund the repair and construction of physical infrastructure such...more
8/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Medicaid Expansion ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Vaccinations