The Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) has unveiled a new comprehensive state emphasis program (SEP) aimed at mitigating heat-related illnesses and injuries at both indoor and outdoor workplaces....more
Under a recently introduced bill, employers across New York State could face new restrictions on the electronic surveillance of workers and the growing use of automated decision-making and artificial intelligence (AI)...more
Maine recently wrapped a busy 2023 legislative session that brought several significant legal changes relevant for employers. Those changes include increasing the cap on damages for violations of the Maine Human Rights Act...more
7/21/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Damage Caps ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Human Rights ,
Human Rights Code ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
State Labor Laws ,
Veterinarians
In a recent decision, a federal trial court in Illinois allowed an employee’s tortious interference claim to continue against his former employer alleging it had exaggerated the reach of a noncompete agreement that he had...more
On June 29, 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) issued new guidance on the enforcement of the city’s law regulating the use of automated employment decision tools (AEDTs) ahead of the...more
7/5/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Audits ,
Automation Systems ,
Bias ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Guidance ,
Notice Requirements
A putative class action recently filed in Seattle, Washington, against a solar energy equipment company could be the first lawsuit to test the bounds of the state’s relatively new restrictions on noncompetition agreements for...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) issued a memorandum on May 30, 2023, declaring her opinion that the “proffer, maintenance, and enforcement” of noncompete agreements in employment contracts and...more
On May 24, 2023, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed into law a sweeping omnibus jobs and economic development and labor funding bill that will invest $500 million in a fund to match federal investments in infrastructure and...more
In yet another effort to speed up the processing of cases, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel on May 22, 2023, issued a memorandum instructing Regional Offices to speed up compliance with Board-ordered...more
On May 18, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued the latest federal guidance on employer use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making tools. The new guidance reinforces the...more
5/24/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Guidance ,
Title VII
On March 29, 2023, the California Supreme Court put the final nail in the coffin of an employee’s claim that California Labor Code Section 204 requires employees to be paid on weekends.
The California high court declined...more
On April 20, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) imposed a host of expanded remedies against an employer that allegedly committed a number of repeated labor law violations in the context of collective bargaining....more
4/24/2023
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Remedies ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Labor Law Violations ,
NLRB ,
Remedies ,
Statutory Violations ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
On April 11, 2023, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) finalized updates to the state’s “Sexual Harassment Model Policy” that provides employers a template to aid their compliance with New York State laws...more
4/18/2023
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Model Rules ,
Online Platforms ,
Remote Working ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws
A California appellate court recently ruled that an employee may pursue claims under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) that her former employer violated the state’s mandatory paid sick leave law.
On...more
On April 6, 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) adopted highly anticipated final rules implementing the city’s law regulating the use of automated employment decision tools (AEDT) tools...more
On March 22, 2023, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum clarifying the Board’s February 2023 decision that nondisparagement and confidentiality provisions in...more
3/23/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Guidance Update ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Retroactive Application ,
Section 7 ,
Severance Agreements ,
Unfair Labor Practices
On February 16, 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced the creation of a special unit to “investigate and prosecute” wage theft, harassment, and exploitation of workers. He also announced the...more
Part of a recently passed pay predictability ordinance in Los Angeles is already causing some confusion for employers over a provision requiring retail employers to pay workers a premium for working a second shift within ten...more
On February 22, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a former oil rig employee who was paid a daily rate that totaled more than $200,000 annually is entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards...more
On February 17, 2023, the Supreme Court of Illinois held claims under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (Privacy Act or BIPA) accrue on each and every scan or collection and further allowed so-called per scan...more
On January 23, 2023, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled that a group of former employees had not shown that a grocery store chain unlawfully retaliated against them for opposing a dress code policy that prohibited the...more
On February 6, 2023, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a controversial bill known as the “Temporary Workers Bill of Rights” that seeks to equalize the compensation of temporary workers with that of regular employees,...more
Fulfilling a top priority for National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer A. Abruzzo’s activist agenda, on December 13, 2022, the Board issued a decision that expands, arguably beyond statutory limits, the...more
With the rise of inflation and other negative economic indicators, most news reports are suggesting that the U.S. economy is facing uncertain times. Some economists predict that the economy is headed for a recession or that...more
A professional sports team head coach recently found himself in hot water over a romantic relationship with another employee of the franchise. The team’s management suspended him for an entire season for purported...more