Update on the State of Non-compete Restrictions (LaborSpeak)
California Employment News: Taking Advantage of the PAGA Reform – How Employers Can Lower Their Risk of PAGA Liability
(Podcast) California Employment News: Taking Advantage of the PAGA Reform – How Employers Can Lower Their Risk of PAGA Liability
The Labor Law Insider: What's Next for Labor Law Under the Trump Administration, Part II
Work This Way: A Labor & Employment Law Podcast - Episode 39: Best Practices for Conducting RIFs and Layoffs with Jennifer Wheeler of Maynard Nexsen
#WorkforceWednesday®: Should Employers Shift Workforce Data Collection Under President Trump? - Employment Law This Week®
Work This Way: A Labor & Employment Law Podcast - Episode 38: Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) with John Holmes of Maynard Nexsen
#WorkforceWednesday®: Workplace Law Shake-Up - DEI Challenges, NLRB Reversals, and EEOC Actions - Employment Law This Week®
The Labor Law Insider: What's Next for Labor Law Under the Trump Administration, Part I
The Implications of President Trump's EO on Gender Ideology: What's the Tea in L&E?
#WorkforceWednesday®: Federal Agencies Begin Compliance Efforts Under Trump Administration - Employment Law This Week®
Employment Law Now IX-159 - 8th Anniversary Special: The Current State of Politics for Employers
#WorkforceWednesday®: Employment Law Changes Under President Trump - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday®: PAGA in California, NLRB Authority, New Employment Laws in 2025 - Employment Law This Week®
Employment Law Now VIII-157 - Top 5 L&E Issues to Watch in 2025
#WorkforceWednesday®: Employment Law in 2025: A Look Ahead - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday®: 2024 Workforce Review - Top Labor and Employment Law Trends and Updates - Employment Law This Week®
The Labor Law Insider - Elections Have Consequences: Labor Law Changes Anticipated Under Trump Administration, Part II
(Podcast) California Employment News – Key Employment Law Updates: What’s Changing in 2025
California Employment News – Key Employment Law Updates: What’s Changing in 2025
In recent months, the Department of Labor (DOL) has seen an overhaul of its agency leadership. First, President Trump appointed Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling, and more recently,...more
On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin confirming that it will no longer enforce a 2024 Biden-era independent contractor rule. The 2024 rule defined “independent contractor”...more
Richard Reibstein, a partner with Troutman Pepper Locke, was quoted in the February 3, 2025 FreightWaves article, “Trucking-Backed Suit May Be Arena for Dumping Biden Independent Contractor Rule.”...more
In the final days of the Biden administration, the FTC and DOJ jointly issued antitrust guidelines on business practices that impact workers that replace the 2016 Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals, which...more
In the ongoing battle over labor policy, the Trump administration has signaled plans to abandon or at least revise its defense of two Biden-Era lawsuits and their underlying initiatives. ...more
In the final week of the Biden administration, the antitrust enforcement agencies – the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) – released two policies potentially impacting labor markets. The...more
Four Ward and Smith team members delivered concise, actionable insights on projected governmental and policy changes resulting from the recent elections, the Corporate Transparency Act, the implications of the Chevron...more
Shocking few NLRB observers, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in The Atlanta Opera, Inc., Case 10-RC-276292, a 3-1 decision issued June 13, 2023, announced its modified standard for analyzing whether workers are...more
Over the weekend, Senate Democrats defied midterm election historical trends and maintained control of their narrow majority in the Senate. In Nevada, Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto narrowly defeated Republican...more
Executive Summary: On October 11, 2022, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking that would assist employers in classifying workers as employees or independent...more
The U.S. Department of Labor is set to issue a Proposed Rule that will have a significant impact on the test used to determine whether someone is an independent contractor or an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
On Monday, February 7, 2022, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment (Task Force) released its long-awaited Report detailing nearly 70 recommendations for revising our nation’s labor laws and...more
Executive Summary: In September 2020, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden promised organized labor that, if elected, he would be the “strongest labor president you’ve ever had.” ...more
Focus - America's Immigration System: President Biden's First 100 Days - Last month, President Joe Biden ("President Biden") wrapped up his first 100 days as President of the United States – focusing on a myriad of...more
On May 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor formally withdrew final regulations promulgated earlier this year under the prior administration which set forth, for the first time by way of an Administrative Procedure Act...more
On May 6, 2021, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew proposed rules set by the Trump Administration, which were originally intended to revise the test for classifying workers as independent contractors at the...more
On May 5, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule to withdraw a Trump-era independent contractor rule for determining how to classify workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL stated that...more
Biden’s Labor Agenda Through Executive Action and Changes At the Department of Labor - Before the 2020 election, then US Presidential candidate Joe Biden vowed to be the “strongest labor president you have ever had.” And...more
Most attention about whether the Biden administration would attempt to adopt a version of California’s notorious “ABC test” for determining whether individuals are properly classified as employees or independent contractors...more
On May 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor withdrew the pro-business Independent Contractor Final Rule published in the final days of President Trump’s administration. This withdrawal follows the Department of Labor’s...more
It’s official – the U.S. Department of Labor has withdrawn the Independent Contractor Rule that was to become effective on May 7th. The rule – proposed by the DOL during the Trump administration – had overwhelming support...more
Peloton has recalled all of its treadmill models—the Tread+ and Tread—“less than a month after it fought the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission as it warned that dozens of injuries and one death of a child had been...more
On May 5, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) confirmed it is withdrawing the rule promulgated under the Trump administration addressing how to determine whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the...more
Last week, President Biden marked his 100th day in office. This Lightbulb illuminates some of the more important developments affecting wage and hour law taken during the first 100 days of the Biden administration....more
Why are the first 100 days so important? It’s often said that a president’s first 100 days in office are the most critical in their administration, as that’s when they have the most political capital – and therefore can...more