Congressional Update. Despite our elected officials being out of town, there was a lot of action coming out of Congress this week....more
Phase 3.5? Or CARES Act 2.0? On April 9, 2020, the U.S. Senate failed to approve a measure that would have added $251 billion in funding for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program established...more
COVID-19 Update. Set forth below is a quick roundup of policy developments and implications concerning the COVID-19 virus.
...more
3/17/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
AFL-CIO ,
Apprenticeships ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EEOC General Counsel ,
Emergency Response ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
H-1B ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Public Health ,
Quarantine ,
Sick Leave ,
State of Emergency ,
Title VII
Congress and the Coronavirus. In the wake of the growing coronavirus threat, federal lawmakers responded this week by doing what they do best: holding hearings. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and...more
3/9/2020
/ Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Databases ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Vacancies Reform Act ,
H-1B ,
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
USCIS
Where is Everybody? Perhaps due to the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, it’s been a relatively quiet week in the labor and employment arena in Washington, D.C. President Trump and U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene...more
1/27/2020
/ Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Impeachment ,
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) ,
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ,
OMB ,
OSHA ,
Trump Administration
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
Soft Deadline for Wage/Hour Data Submission? September 30, 2019, was the deadline for employers to submit EEO-1 Component 2 wage and hour data for 2017 and 2018. Or was it?...more
10/7/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) ,
OFCCP ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Pay Gap ,
Presidential Nominations
Secretary of Labor Resigns. On July 12, 2019, Alexander Acosta resigned as Secretary of Labor amid renewed scrutiny of his handling of criminal charges against Jeffrey Epstein while serving as the U.S. attorney for the...more
7/15/2019
/ Administrative Resignation ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Immigration ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Pending Legislation ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Scheduling Letters ,
Title VII
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
Top DOL Official to Depart. This week the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that Chief of Staff Nicholas Geale will resign his position effective May 31, 2019. Geale is a veteran of the D.C. labor policy debates,...more
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
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
Paycheck Fairness Act Advances. On February 26, 2019, the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor voted, along party lines, to approve the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA). Republican amendments to limit attorneys’ fees and to...more
3/4/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Congressional Committees ,
Electronic Reporting ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Paycheck Fairness Act ,
Union Dues ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Violence
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
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
Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory. Many Representatives on Capitol Hill were already heading home after the Senate passed a continuing resolution this week to keep the federal government open until early February....more
12/24/2018
/ Appropriations Bill ,
Continuing Resolution ,
E-Verify ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Government Shutdown ,
Information Reports ,
OSHA ,
Political Parties ,
Sexual Harassment ,
USCIS ,
Wellness Programs
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
Shutdown Shelved (For Now). In a rare demonstration of unity, Congress punted on this week’s government funding debate out of respect for the funeral of President George H.W. Bush (more on the former president’s legacy...more
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
Deal on Nominees Excludes Labor and Employment Personnel.
The U.S. House and Senate are in recess (sort of) until after the November 6 elections. Before leaving town, the Senate confirmed a package of 15 federal judges and...more
PAID Persists. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) pilot program was set to expire this month, but it has been extended for another six months....more
10/12/2018
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Construction Industry ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Information Reports ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Kavanaugh Hearing. The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a new hearing this week to address allegations of sexual assault made against Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. ...more