Supreme Return. The Supreme Court of the United States kicked off its 2019 term this week with a few blockbuster oral arguments. On October 9, 2019, the Court heard oral argument in three cases concerning whether gender...more
10/14/2019
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Comment Period ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Gender Identity ,
National Park Service ,
National Parks ,
New Guidance ,
NLRB ,
OSHRC ,
Pay Data ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Title VII ,
Union Elections ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
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
This month marks the 55th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This monumental legislation, which was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964, changed the course of history with its sweeping ban...more
7/16/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Labor Regulations ,
LGBTQ ,
New Legislation ,
Quorum ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Service Animals ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
Board Rules on Union Access. Late last week, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision involving the balancing of employees’ statutory right to organize with employers’ private property rights. In the case, the...more
6/24/2019
/ Access to Employer Facilities ,
Board of Directors ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Vacancies Reform Act ,
Final Rules ,
HRA ,
NLRB ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
USCIS
Wage and Hour Rulemaking News. June 12, 2019, was the deadline for submission of public comments in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour’s Division’s (WHD) proposed changes to clarify what forms of payment...more
6/17/2019
/ Age Discrimination ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Federal Vacancies Reform Act ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) ,
Offshore Drilling ,
Parker Drilling Management Services Ltd v Newton ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Comment ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Violence Prevention Programs
Who’s Running USCIS? The Buzz was away last week, so we didn’t get a chance to comment on the departure of L. Francis Cissna from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It has been reported that former Virginia...more
6/10/2019
/ 19th Amendment ,
Association Health Plans ,
DACA ,
EBSA ,
Executive Orders ,
Exhaustion Doctrine ,
OIRA ,
Pending Legislation ,
Professional Employer Organization ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Temporary Protected Status ,
USCIS
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
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
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
Did you know that the 2018 midterm elections set a record as the first midterm to exceed voter turnout of 100 million people? In this issue, we will talk about the impact of the 2018 midterms for employers as well as topics...more
1/16/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Change in Control ,
Corporate Management ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
New Legislation ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
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
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
Welcome to the inaugural issue of our new quarterly newsletter, Ogletree Deakins Compass. We hope you enjoy the publication, which contains some of the familiar features of the Employment Law Authority, but also has a few new...more
10/4/2018
/ Association Health Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Training ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Health Insurance ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Judges ,
Marijuana ,
Multinationals ,
New Legislation ,
Nominations ,
OFCCP ,
Opinion Letter ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
USCIS ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) ,
Wage and Hour
September to Remember. Congress returned this week, and Capitol Hill policymakers are girding themselves for a busy month of September. Indeed, October 1—the start of the new fiscal year—looms large, so Congress will have...more
9/10/2018
/ Brett Kavanaugh ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Facebook ,
H-1B ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Opinion Letter ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Twitter ,
USCIS
See Ya Later, Persuader. It took more than eight years, but the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) persuader rule has finally been rescinded. Proposed just one day prior to the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) 2011...more
7/23/2018
/ Ambush Election Rules ,
Brett Kavanaugh ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Federal Budget ,
H-1B ,
LMRDA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
OSHA ,
Persuader Rules ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
USCIS ,
Workplace Safety
No, this week’s edition of the Buzz will not be in #ALLCAPS, but folks in D.C. are certainly excited that their hockey team made it to the Stanley Cup Final. If the District had any meaningful representation in Congress at...more
5/28/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Immigration Reform ,
SCOTUS ,
TRICARE ,
USCIS
The Buzz returns renewed and reenergized from last week’s highly successful Workplace Strategies conference in Phoenix, Arizona, where approximately 800 employer representatives gathered with Ogletree Deakins lawyers to...more
5/21/2018
/ Anti-Commandeering ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Joint Employers ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Proposed Legislation ,
SCOTUS ,
Tenth Amendment ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
PAID Underway. On April 3, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) officially launched its Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program to encourage employers to voluntarily resolve potential...more
4/6/2018
/ Audits ,
Claim Procedures ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
H-1B ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
Self-Reporting ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour
Omnibus Speeds Through. More than six months into the current fiscal year, earlier today President Trump signed a massive omnibus spending bill that will fund the federal government through September 30. This means that a...more
3/26/2018
/ Appropriations Bill ,
DACA ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Budget ,
H-1B ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
OSHRC ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
NLRB Returns to Amorphous Joint-Employer Standard. Talk about policy oscillation: the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) joint-employer recusal debacle continued this week, perhaps coming to an abrupt end (for now). ...more
Washington, D.C., in December is known for its holiday parties, where lobbyists and Hill denizens gather to stab food with toothpicks and knock back cheap—and sometimes not-so-cheap—drinks. Despite all this partying, people...more
12/18/2017
/ Ambush Election Rules ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Holidays ,
Joint Employers ,
Lilly Ledbetter ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Tip-Pooling ,
USCIS
D.C. is humming this week, as the Senate and House are both in session after taking turns on recess the past two weeks.
401(k) Pre-Tax Deferrals: An Endangered Species? After being overshadowed by ACA repeal-and-replace...more