NEWS & INSIGHTS
8/23/24: Fifth Circuit vacates Department of Labor’s “80/20/30 Rule”, a complicated rule that limited employers’ ability to take advantage of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “tip credit”. Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Department of Labor.
8/20/24: Federal court in Texas issues final judgment setting aside Federal Trade Commission's Noncompete Rule, which would have prohibited almost all employee noncompete agreements. This ruling’s effect is nationwide, meaning the FTC rule currently has no effect anywhere. Ryan, LLC v. FTC, 2024 WL 3879954 (N.D. Tex., Aug. 20, 2024).
7/3/24: Federal court in Texas preliminarily enjoins Federal Trade Commission from enforcing its new Noncompete Rule (set to go into effect September 4, 2024), which will prohibit almost all employee noncompete agreements—but this only applies to the litigants of this Texas case. The Noncompete Rule remains scheduled to go into effect on September 4 for every other employer/employer in the country unless something else changes before then. This federal court indicated that it will issue its final ruling in this case by August 30, 2024.
6/28/24: Federal court in Texas preliminarily enjoins Department of Labor from enforcing its final rule raising the salary level requirements for the FLSA’s “white collar exemptions”—but this only applies to the State of Texas as an employer. For every other US employer, phase one of the new fuel went into effect July 1, 2024 and phase two will go into effect January 1, 2025 unless something changes before then. The court indicated that it will issue its final ruling in this case “in a matter of months,” which could mean before phase two of the salary level increase goes into effect January 1, 2025. Employers should keep their eyes on this and other litigation to keep track of the fate of the FLSA’s new salary level for the white collar exemptions.
6/14/24: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announces $515,000 settlement of Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)/Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit. This shortly after the EEOC settled another GINA/ADA lawsuit for $1 Million in October 2023.
5/29/24: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sues 15 employers across country for failure to file EEO-1 Reports.
4/29/24: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issues comprehensive “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace” (its first new guidance on this topic since 1999)
4/23/24: Department of Labor issues final rule updating the Fair Labor Standards Act regulations relating to “white collar exemptions". Updates include substantial increases to the salary level required to be considered exempt and a mechanism that provides for regular future increases to these amounts.
The first phase of the new rule goes into effect July 1, 2024, with a second phase going into effect January 1, 2025.
4/23/24: Federal Trade Commission issues new rule banning almost all noncompete agreements. The rule is scheduled to go into effect September 4, 2024 but litigation is already pending that could change that.
8/1/23: USCIS begins allowing remote examination/verification of employees’ I-9 supporting documents, for employers who are enrolled in good standing with E-Verify.
8/1/23: New I-9 Form available (click here for new I-9) from USCIS; employers must use this form starting November 1, 2023.
7/26/23: EEOC updates ADA technical assistance document “Visual Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act”. This comes six months after the EEOC updated ADA technical assistance relating to hearing disabilities and the ADA.
Access the visual disabilities technical assistance document here
Access the hearing disabilities technical assistance document here
6/29/23: U.S. Supreme Court modifies standard for determining when a religious accommodation must be granted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This changes the standard that has been in place since 1977 and should make it easier for employees to get religious accommodations.
6/27/23: New “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster issued by EEOC (prior year posters no longer compliant)
6/27/23: Pregnant Workers Fairness Act takes effect today, requiring employers w/ at least 15 employees to reasonably accommodate employees and applicants experiencing pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.
6/13/23: National Labor Relations Board modifies independent contractor standard under NLRA. The new standard will result in far more workers being found to be employees, rather than independent contractors, under the NLRA.
5/30/23: NLRB General Counsel issues memo indicating that most noncompete agreements violate National Labor Relations Act
5/18/23: EEOC issues new technical assistance document “Assessing Adverse Impact in Software, Algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence Used in Employment Selection Procedures Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
5/15/23: EEOC updates COVID technical assistance document “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws”
4/30/23: New FLSA poster issued by Department of Labor (prior year posters no longer compliant)
4/30/23: New FMLA poster issued by Department of Labor (certain prior year posters still satisfy posting requirement)
2/21/23: National Labor Relations Board rules that employers can’t offer severance agreements that require employees to broadly waive certain rights, which would include most versions of severance agreements that most employers in the U.S. are using today. This ruling applies in both union and non-union settings.
Read the NLRB press release, which includes a link to the decision, here
12/29/22: Two new federal laws signed by Biden today provide rights to pregnant employees and employees w/ pregnancy-related conditions.
See DOL resources on the new PUMP Act here
See EEOC resources on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act here
8/11/22: COVID UPDATE: CDC updates COVID-related guidance, easing many prior workplace recommendations for employers
7/26/22: NLRB and U.S. Dep’t of Justice announce partnership targeting employers who attempt to evade legal obligations by misclassifying employees as independent contractors, and employers who attempt to impose overly-restrictive noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements/rules
7/19/22: NLRB and Federal Trade Commission announce partnership to protect workers from “anticompetitive and unfair labor practices," e.g. misclassification of workers as independent contractors and unreasonable noncompete agreements
7/15/22: NLRB press release reveals that in 1st three quarters of FY2022, union election petitions are up 58%, already exceeding all FY2021 petitions filed
7/12/22: COVID UPDATE: EEOC updates COVID-related guidance with revisions to section A.6; clarifies that going forward employers need to assess whether current pandemic circumstances and individual workplace circumstances justify workplace COVID testing
6/27/22: EEOC adds nonbinary “X” gender marker to charge intake process
5/25/22 Dep’t of Labor publishes updated FMLA guidance on mental health and job-protected leave
4/12/22: In very rare move, U.S. federal court orders Salt Lake City supermarket not to interfere w/ U.S. Dep’t of Labor investigation
3/11/22: U.S. Dep’t of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division publishes new resources to fight retaliation against employees
3/3/22: Biden signs “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021” into law, effective immediately
3/1/22: VACCINE UPDATE: EEOC updates COVID-related EEO guidance with new section L: “Vaccinations—Title VII Religious Objections to COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements”
2/9/22: VACCINE UPDATE: 5th Circuit maintains injunction of COVID vaccine mandate for federal workers
1/27/22: VACCINE UPDATE: Federal district court that issued 12/7/21 injunction (see story below) that resulted in nationwide injunction of COVID vaccine mandate for federal contractors issues NEW ORDER clarifying that injunction only applies to vax requirement, not other provisions of mandate (e.g., masking, distancing, etc.)
1/26/22: VACCINE UPDATE: OSHA withdraws COVID-19 vaccination Emergency Temporary Standard and asks Sixth Circuit to dismiss ETS litigation as moot
OSHA clarifies that it’s leaving ETS in place as a “proposed rule”
1/24/22: US Dep’t of Labor issues, then immediately removes, “Fact Sheet #84: Compensability of Time Spent Undergoing COVID-19 Health Screenings, Testing, and Vaccinations under the FLSA”
1/14/22: OSHA civil penalties undergo automatic increase
1/13/22: VACCINE UPDATE: U.S. Supreme Court issues decisions in two vaccine-related cases:
In one case, Court reinstates stay of OSHA's COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS (meaning the ETS cannot go forward while litigation continues regarding the validity of the ETS)
Read the opinion
In the second case, Court lifts stay of CMS vaccine mandate (a/k/a the healthcare vaccine mandate) (meaning the rule is currently in effect and can continue in effect unless again stopped by litigation)
Read the opinion
1/7/22: VACCINE UPDATE: U.S. Supreme Court holds oral argument on both OSHA ETS and CMS vaccine mandates
12/17/21: VACCINE UPDATE: Emergency petition filed asking U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate stay of OSHA's COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS
12/19/21: VACCINE UPDATE: 6th Circuit lifts stay of OSHA's COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS; OSHA announces new compliance deadlines
Learn More:
12/10/21: This is not your nontraditional parental figures’ employment law company
I realized this about myself in my late teens/early 20s. Like most people, this was the time in my life when I became, at least legally speaking, an adult, and started thinking about what the hell I was going to do for a career.