Most employers in California are all-too familiar with the Golden State’s unique meal and rest break requirements. But outside of states like California, Oregon, and Washington, which have clear requirements for meal and rest breaks, employers may forget that the Fair Labor Standards Act has its own rest break obligations. READ MORE
Following a vacate and remand order by the United States Supreme Court for employing the de novo standard of review rather than the abuse of discretion standard, the Ninth Circuit revisited the standard for relevance in the EEOC subpoena context. EEOC v. McLane Co., No. 13-15126 (9th Cir. May 24, 2017).
In McLane, the EEOC was investigating a charge of gender discrimination which was based on the employer’s use of a physical capacity strength test. As part of its pre-litigation investigation into that charge, of gender discrimination filed by an ex-McLane Company employee, the EEOC issued a subpoena for “pedigree information” (i.e., name, Social Security number, last known address, and telephone number) for employees or prospective employees who took the physical capability strength test.
Earlier this month, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced its intent to rescind the Obama-era regulations regarding persuader activity and reporting requirements pursuant to Section 203(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (“LMRDA”). Under the Obama administration, persuader activity was considered activity by anyone engaged to help management discourage employees from forming or joining a labor union, including lawyers hired to advise management on how to discourage union organizing activity. The official rescission of the Rule was published in the Federal Register on June 12, 2017.
On May 4, 2017, the President signed the Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Liberty (the “EO”). The EO’s stated policy is to “vigorously enforce Federal law’s robust protections for religious freedom.” An early version of the Executive Order contained provisions that directed the Department of Labor to begin rulemaking which could have expanded the religions exemptions to federal civil rights laws for federal contractors. While this and other expansive provisions were not included in the current EO, further accommodations of religious exercise in the workplace are not off the table. READ MORE
On Tuesday, the President officially killed the Obama-era Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces (“FPSW”) Initiative, which came to be known as the “Blacklisting regs”. The move was widely expected as Executive Order 13673, the Federal Acquisition Council’s Regulations and the Department of Labor’s Guidance were widely panned by federal contractors. However, the Trump Administration’s path to dump this initiative represents how Washington makes it difficult to do even the simplest things quickly. READ MORE
Last month, the Ninth Circuit issued a notable opinion addressing the enforceability of arbitration agreements in Poublon v. C.H. Robinson Co., 846 F.3d 1251 (9th Cir. 2017), mandate issued (Feb. 24, 2017). In Poublon, the employee filed a class action even though she signed a dispute resolution agreement that prohibited representative actions and required her to mediate and arbitrate all other claims. The court evaluated the agreement to determine if it was unconscionable under California law, which looks at both procedural and substantive unconscionability on a sliding scale. Although the court held that a few provisions were substantively unconscionable, the court severed and reformed the offending provisions and largely upheld the dispute resolution agreement. READ MORE
On January 20, 2017, shortly after Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States, his Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, issued an Executive Memorandum mandating a 60-day freeze on published federal regulations that have yet to take effect to allow Trump’s appointees time to review the regulations. Although such action is fairly standard during a change of administration, the impact could be significant if certain regulations set to take effect in 2017 are delayed or ultimately replaced. Regulations potentially affected by the 60-day freeze include the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) overtime and fiduciary rules, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) EEO-1 pay reporting requirements. READ MORE
On September 29, 2016, the DOL released a final rule requiring federal contractors to provide seven days of paid sick leave annually. The rule implements a 2015 executive order from President Obama that we covered in greater detail here. More than 35,000 individuals and organizations submitted comments on the DOL’s proposed rule.
On Tuesday, September 20, 2016, twenty-one states filed a complaint in federal court in Texas challenging the new overtime rule finalized by the Department of Labor (“DOL”) in May of this year. The States seek to prevent implementation of the new rule, which is scheduled to become effective on December 1, 2016. That same day, fifty-five business groups, including several chambers of commerce, filed a similar lawsuit in Texas federal court to block the rule.
On June 14, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) unveiled its final sex discrimination guidelines governing covered federal contractors. The OFCCP proposed changes to the rule on January 30, 2015 and the official comment period closed on April 14, 2015, following a two-week extension so that it could take comment on the Supreme Court’s pregnancy discrimination decision in Young v. United Parcel Serv., Inc. The final rules come six months after the expected date on the fall regulatory agency but were released to coincide with the White House Council on Women and Girls first “United State of Women” summit, which was also held on Tuesday. Our coverage of that event can be found here
