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
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
Employment Law Now VIII-155 - The Trump 2.0 Impact on Labor and Employment Law
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced several self-audit programs to assist employers, unions, and benefit plan officials with voluntarily assessing and correcting their compliance with federal labor laws. One of those...more
The U.S. Department of Labor just quietly launched one of the most sweeping deregulatory efforts in recent memory, advancing over 60 proposals that could reshape workplace rules across industries. From overtime and minimum...more
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
During the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final regulation (the “2024 Rule”) seeking to increase the salary threshold for overtime eligibility for the “white-collar” exemption (also referred...more
Last month, the most significant legal development in the area of independent contractor (IC) compliance and misclassification was on Capitol Hill. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a Senate Republican who chairs the Senate Health,...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
On March 14, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order ending the obligation to pay individuals working on or in connection with certain federal contracts or subcontracts a minimum wage currently set at $17.75 per hour....more
The Beltway Buzz™ is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business....more
Few federal regulations over the past five years have produced more needless concern by stakeholders than the independent contractor rules under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) issued by the different...more
With a Republican-controlled Congress and White House, business lobbyists are seizing the opportunity to push for permanent clarity on the issue of joint employment. The International Franchise Association (IFA) is advocating...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
On January 21, 2025, Governor JB Pritzker signed the Dignity in Pay Act (HB793) into law. The Dignity in Pay Act mandates that subminimum wage authorizations otherwise authorized under federal law be phased out and completely...more
On January 15, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a rare unanimous decision clarifying the applicable standard employers must meet in cases involving exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). In an...more
Approximately one year ago, we discussed the impact of the final rule from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regarding whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act...more
Inauguration Day is upon us, and with the Presidential change comes several anticipated changes to federal employment agency initiatives. We are likely to see federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),...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
2024 was yet another active year in the labor and employment landscape. While 2025 and the new administration could bring any number of changes to workplace laws and enforcement, the timing and extent of such changes is...more
In November, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas blocked the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule discussed below. See Texas v. U.S. Dep’t of Lab., No. 4:24-CV-468-SDJ, 2024 WL 4806268 (E.D. Tex....more
On April 23, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Final Rule that significantly increased the minimum salary required for employees to be classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Specifically,...more
Earlier this year, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced increases to the salary threshold for the “bona fide executive, administrative, or professional” exemption and the “highly compensated employee” exemption to the...more
On November 15, 2024, a federal district court in Texas struck down the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") Final Rule that would have made over four million additional workers eligible for overtime pay. The Final Rule...more
A federal judge in Texas has struck down the Biden administration’s overtime rule that would have extended overtime protections to an estimated four million additional workers. ...more
Last Friday, a Texas federal court struck down the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2024 rule raising the minimum salary levels for certain exemptions to the overtime requirements of the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA)....more
This past Friday, employers scored a victory when a Texas federal judge struck down the Department of Labor’s (DOL) rule which increased the salary levels for the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) executive, administrative,...more
On Friday, November 15, a Texas federal court turned back time on the minimum salary threshold rule for certain overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standard Act’s (“FLSA”)—halting the planned January 1, 2025, increase,...more