On December 21, 2020, Congress passed a massive bill (H.R. 133) that would fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2021 while also providing $900 billion in COVID-19 economic relief for employers and...more
Biden Agency Review Teams Announced. President-elect Joe Biden has announced his “agency review teams” to begin evaluating agency operations in anticipation of the shift in executive power in January 2021. The labor review...more
Sweet Asteroid of Death. There are 11 days until Election Day, November 3, 2020. For voters who are unhappy with the available options, there may be some good news: an asteroid may crash into Earth on November 2, 2020,...more
Chilly Climate in D.C. Just like the bit of autumn chill that descended upon Washington, D.C., this week, congressional negotiations over a new pandemic relief package have cooled. A compromise legislative effort announced...more
9/21/2020
/ Comment Period ,
Congressional Subpoenas ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Government Shutdown ,
Joint Employers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Relief Measures ,
Scheduling Letters
A September to Remember? Congress will return next week after its August recess to begin a legislative sprint to the November elections. There will be only 15 scheduled legislative days when both the U.S. Senate and U.S....more
Legislative Relief Package Stalls. The Buzz recently predicted that negotiations over a fourth COVID-19 legislative relief package would be like an immovable object facing an unstoppable force. Unfortunately, it appears that...more
Spring Regulatory Agenda Released. Last week, the Buzz wondered when we might see the administration’s spring regulatory forecast. Well, the administration must have noticed our comment, because on June 30, 2020, it released...more
7/6/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
TRICARE ,
USCIS
NLRB Issues Joint-Employer Rule. On February 26, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finalized its joint-employer rule. The rule returns to a common sense joint-employer standard that existed for decades prior to...more
Go PRO. As the Buzz has been predicting for quite a while, on February 6, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019 (PRO Act). Last May, we covered the drastic changes the...more
2/10/2020
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Congressional Committees ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-1B ,
Joint Employers ,
OFCCP ,
Pending Legislation ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Registration Requirement ,
Right of First Refusal ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
2020 Preview. -=
Federal lawmakers returned to Washington, D.C., this week to kick off the second session of the 116th Congress. With national political elections 10 months away, the policy debates will be amplified, and...more
1/13/2020
/ Audits ,
Comment Period ,
Congressional Committees ,
DACA ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Electronic Filing ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-1B ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
LGBTQ ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
Pending Legislation ,
Registration Requirement ,
Union Representatives ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
Wage and Hour
With the start of a new year, in-house counsel and human resources professionals will want to be aware of what’s on the horizon for 2020 and beyond. It’s a good time for employers to take a breath and consider what issues...more
1/3/2020
/ ADEA ,
Baby Boomers ,
Canada ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
FEHA ,
Fluctuating Workweek ,
Food Service Workers ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Regulations ,
Leave of Absence ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mobile Apps ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Pending Legislation ,
Piece-Rate Pay ,
Public Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Right of First Refusal ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
USCIS ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wellness Programs ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Violence
USMCA on the Way? Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle claimed victory this week over what appears to be a breakthrough in negotiations over the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade agreement. Of...more
12/13/2019
/ Criminal Background Checks ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-1B ,
NDAA ,
Over-Time ,
Parental Leave ,
Perks ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Tip Credit ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
Close Call. On November 21, 2019, President Donald Trump signed a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open through December 20, 2019. Given the pervasiveness of brinksmanship in Congress these days, the Buzz...more
11/25/2019
/ Continuing Resolution ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
OSHA ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Workplace Safety
Fluctuating Workweek Reg Drops. On November 5, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for computing overtime compensation for salaried nonexempt employees whose...more
11/11/2019
/ Comment Period ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fluctuating Workweek ,
Health Care Providers ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Hearing ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Students ,
TRICARE ,
Union Elections ,
Wage and Hour
We Juan It! The Washington Nationals are World Series champions, and it is Soto-rific. This is the first World Series championship victory for Washington, D.C., since 1924, when Firpo Marberry and the Washington Senators beat...more
11/4/2019
/ Baseball ,
Capper-Volstead Act ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Eighteenth Amendment ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
Pay Data ,
Processing Fees ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rescission ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour ,
World Series
Scalia Officially Nominated.
Although the Buzz mentioned the nomination of Eugene Scalia to be secretary of labor seven weeks ago, the management-side attorney wasn’t officially nominated until August 27, 2019. Will this...more
9/9/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-1B ,
Holidays ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Rules ,
USCIS
Final Overtime Rule Advances. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s proposal to increase the salary threshold regarding overtime pay to slightly more than $35,000 per year took another step forward in the...more
8/19/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
H-1B ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Political Candidates ,
Religious Exemption ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wage and Hour
DOL Personnel Moves. While we all wait to see how and when the confirmation process for secretary of labor nominee Eugene Scalia may play out, the front office shake-up at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) continued this...more
7/29/2019
/ Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Deductibles ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
HDHP ,
Health Insurance ,
HSA ,
OFCCP ,
Opinion Letter ,
Pensions ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
EEO-1 Update. Like an army of frozen zombies descending on the North, the EEO-1 wage collection matter will not die, and its arrival is becoming more imminent with each passing day. On April 16, 2019, the U.S. District Court...more
4/22/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Rights ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Memorandum of Guidance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Section 7 ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
Regular Rate Proposal Issues. On March 29, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to clarify what forms of payments must be included (or...more
4/1/2019
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
FOIA ,
Gerrymandering ,
Kisor v Wilkie ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
PBGC ,
SCOTUS ,
Unions ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) ,
Wage and Hour
It was a busy week in Washington, D.C., marked by the resuscitation of two major employment policy debates from 2016. Here is your Beltway Buzz....more
3/11/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Minimum Salary ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
OSHRC ,
Over-Time ,
TRICARE ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Joint-Employer Comment Docket Closes. As the Buzz mentioned previously, February 11, 2019, was the due date for submission of reply comments on the National Labor Relations Board’s proposed joint-employer rule. The next step...more
Agencies Propose HRA Expansion. On October 23, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed regulation to expand the use of health...more
10/29/2018
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Congressional Committees ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Contractors ,
Harassment ,
Health Insurance ,
Justice O'Connor ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
Pay Data ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs)
Kavanaugh Update. The Buzz predicted that the confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh would be all-consuming, but even we underestimated how contested his nomination would become. Regardless of the outcome, the political...more
9/24/2018
/ Appropriations Bill ,
Brett Kavanaugh ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OIG ,
OSHA ,
Purple Communications ,
Recusal ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings
NLRB Issues Joint-Employer Proposal. Whoa. Today, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published a proposed rule regarding its joint-employer standard. The proposed rule would undo the Board’s 2015 Browning-Ferris...more
9/17/2018
/ Brett Kavanaugh ,
Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Comment Period ,
Construction Industry ,
Federal Contractors ,
H-2B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process