Responding to a charge from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) can often be a complex and opaque process, fraught with red tape. To alleviate this burden, we have developed a comprehensive roadmap to assist employers, in-house counsel and human resources professionals in managing EEOC charges from start to finish, while avoiding common pitfalls and mitigating potential risk exposure.Continue Reading Register Now | A Step-by-Step Approach to Navigating EEOC Charges Webinar
As previously covered on our HR Law Talk blog, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) non-compete ban (FTC Rule or the Rule) is scheduled to take effect on September 4, 2024. Issued in April, the FTC Rule prohibits all non-competes arising out of employment relationships – with the exception of existing agreements with “senior executives,” as defined by the Rule. Although many legal experts have hypothesized that the federal courts would enjoin the Rule, the future of the FTC Rule remains uncertain. Accordingly, employers must remain informed on the most recent court rulings involving the FTC Rule and prepare as though it will take effect on September 4.Continue Reading Notices Under FTC Rule on Non-Competes: What Should I Be Doing Now?
On April 23, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to adopt a monumental final rule prohibiting employers from entering into non-competes against all workers within the jurisdiction of the FTC – a move that is poised to reshape how employers approach employment agreements.Continue Reading Scope and Impact of the FTC’s Non-Compete Rule for Employers
In a recent decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a lateral job transfer can – in certain circumstances – be an illegal adverse action and support a claim for a lawsuit for unlawful discrimination. This decision will increase the type of job actions for which employers can be sued and will lead to greater risk for employers in making challenging employment decisions.Continue Reading Supreme Court Holds That Employees Need Not Show “Significant” Harm to Support a Title VII Discrimination Claim Based on a Job Transfer
For healthcare provider companies, a critical question about the FTC’s decision is whether it applies to nonprofit entities. I recently analyzed the impact on the healthcare industry of the vote by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to move forward with a final rule banning non-compete agreements for an article in Modern Healthcare.Continue Reading FTC’s New Ban on Non-Compete Agreements and Potential Impact on Nonprofit Healthcare Companies
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a Final Rule increasing the salary threshold for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime exemptions, a move which the DOL anticipates will result in around four million additional workers becoming eligible for overtime pay. Continue Reading DOL Announces Final Overtime Rule Increasing Salary Threshold
The U.S. Department of Labor issued final regulations on April 23, expanding the definition of “fiduciary” under ERISA. The final regulations alter the definition of “investment advice fiduciary” for purposes of Title I and Title II of ERISA to impose fiduciary duties on individuals or entities that make compensated recommendations related to the use of retirement assets to participants, beneficiaries and owners of qualified retirement plans and IRAs.Continue Reading BREAKING: DOL Expands Definition of Fiduciary under ERISA
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) became effective on June 27, 2023. On August 11, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its proposed regulations on the PWFA. After receiving over 100,000 public comments on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the EEOC issued its final rule and interpretive guidance to implement the PWFA on April 15, 2024 (Final Rule). Continue Reading Summary of the EEOC’s Final Regulations Implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
On April 1, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published its Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process Rule, which is set to take effect 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register on May 31, 2024. The new rule broadens workers’ rights to choose who represents them during safety inspections, overwriting an old standard that required the representative to be a fellow employee and opening the door for outside representatives such as those from unions.Continue Reading Can a Non-Employee Join a Safety Inspection? Yes, Under OSHA’s New Worker Walkaround Rule a Non-Employee Can Serve As an Employee Representative During Safety Inspections
On January 31, the Sixth Circuit published a cautionary tale regarding the “reasonable belief” doctrine involving an employer that fired a disabled employee for a positive drug test for “marijuana.”Continue Reading A Cautionary Tale Regarding the “Reasonable Belief” Doctrine