On January 12, 2020, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released the final changes to its joint-employer regulation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Originally proposed in April 2019, the updated...more
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
Congress Sprints to the Finish. Congress returned this week from its Thanksgiving break and is racing to the end of the first session of the 116th Congress. Lawmakers are technically only supposed to remain in town through...more
12/9/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Congressional Nominations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exclusionary Clauses ,
Fourth Amendment ,
Joint Employers ,
NDAA ,
NLRB ,
OIRA ,
OSHRC ,
Search & Seizure ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Warrantless Searches ,
Workplace Safety
IRAPs Arrive. On June 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) “to advance the development of high-quality, industry-recognized...more
Spring Regulatory Agenda Issued. On May 22, 2019, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) released the administration’s Spring 2019 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. Before diving into the...more
5/28/2019
/ Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equality Act ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Railway Labor Act ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan ,
Students ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
Stanton Confirmed as WHD Administrator. On April 10, 2019, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Cheryl Stanton as wage and hour administrator. Stanton, who was originally nominated in September 2017, takes the helm of the U.S....more
4/15/2019
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equality Act ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Joint Employers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Rate of Pay ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Sexual Harassment ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Wage and Hour
NLRB Returns to Traditional Independent Contractor Standard -
On January 25, 2019, in SuperShuttle DFW, Inc., the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) returned to its traditional independent contractor standard based on the...more
4/15/2019
/ EEO-1 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Pay Gap ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Telecommuting ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Safety
Gentlemen, You Can’t Fight in Here! This Is the War Room! On April 3, 2019, for the third time in six years, the U.S. Senate went “nuclear” and changed its rules regarding filibustering of presidential nominees. This time,...more
4/8/2019
/ Association Health Plans ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Decertification ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
FOIA ,
Joint Employers ,
Opinion Letter ,
OSHA ,
Railways ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Unions
On April 1, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend its existing regulations regarding joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)....more
4/2/2019
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Joint Employers ,
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
NLRB ,
NPRM
The Presidents’ Day holiday (more on this below), a snow day for the federal government, and Congress being out of town resulted in a slow week on the labor and employment policy front. Nonetheless, here are a few things that...more
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
Shutdown Fallout. Shortly after last week’s Buzz was issued, President Trump signed legislation to reopen the federal government after 35 days of a partial government shutdown. The short-term deal restores partial government...more
Shutdown Shame. Today is day 35 of the partial government shutdown, and the political climate in D.C. continues to crater. At least Congress canceled its previously scheduled recess in an attempt to resolve the situation -...more
1/28/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Government Shutdown ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Ruth Bader Ginsberg ,
Silica ,
Wage and Hour
“Snurlough.” Today is day 28 of the partial government shutdown. A bigger-than-expected snowstorm that hit the D.C. region this past weekend led to a Monday in which the federal government was both closed and (partially) shut...more
1/21/2019
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Deadlines ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Government Shutdown ,
H-1B ,
Joint Employers ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
NLRB ,
OIRA ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Comment ,
SCOTUS ,
State of the Union ,
Unpaid Wages
Shutdown Stalemate. Today marks day 21 of the partial federal government shutdown. Assuming that no deal is struck today, by tomorrow the shutdown will be the longest in our nation’s history....more
The midterm elections that took place in November 2018 have the employer community wondering what to expect in 2019. This article will examine how those elections might impact labor and employment policymaking in 2019....more
1/9/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Election Results ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Joint Employers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Workplace Injury
2019 Ushers in the 116th Congress. Happy 2019 from Washington, D.C., where January 3 marked the start of the 116th Congress (now under new management). As the Buzz has discussed in recent weeks, Representative Bobby Scott...more
Joint-Employer Extension. This week the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) further extended the deadline for submission of comments in response to its proposed joint-employer rulemaking. Comments had been due on December...more
Congress Returns. While New York has an awesome duck, Washington, D.C., has a lame duck. Yes, Congress returned this week for its post-election lame-duck session....more
11/19/2018
/ Ambush Election Rules ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Joint Employers ,
Lame Duck Session ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
OIRA ,
Political Parties ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Tipped Employees ,
Trump Administration
Joint-Employer Update.
As a pre-Halloween treat to stakeholders who are preparing written comments on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) proposed joint-employer rule, on October 30, 2018, the NLRB extended by 30...more
11/5/2018
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitration ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Joint Employers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Rulemaking Process ,
USCIS
Kavanaugh and the Congressional Schedule. Earlier today, by a vote of 51-49, the U.S. Senate ended debate on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States. ...more
10/8/2018
/ Brett Kavanaugh ,
Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Caesars ,
Comment Period ,
Email ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
Purple Communications ,
SCOTUS ,
Surveys
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
Approximately three years after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) turned its decades old joint-employer standard on its head in Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc. d/b/a BFI Newby Island Recyclery, on...more
9/14/2018
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Comment Period ,
Franchisors ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Public Comment ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Wage and Hour