On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed a rule banning provisions in employment agreements which prevent employees and independent contractors, for a period of time, from working for a competitor or starting a competing business. The FTC will accept public comments on the proposal for 60 days and consider those comments prior
On October 21, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) published an updated version of its “EEO is the Law” workplace poster with a new poster entitled “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal”. The new poster is simplified in that it uses plain language and bullet points which summarize the rights of employees and
On March 18, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act (“Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair”) which bans hairstyle discrimination in employment, public accommodations, federally assisted programs and housing programs. The act bans discrimination against braids, dreadlocks, curls and the like. Advocates of the bill say a split in
On December 27, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) invited public briefing on a critical issue affecting employers (and especially gig economy companies and workers) regarding independent contractor status. In 2019, the republican-controlled NLRB in SuperShuttle DFW, Inc., 367 NLRB 75 (2019), made it easier for employers to prove independent contractor status by reaffirming
On September 24, 2021, the Biden Administration’s Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued Covid-19 workplace safety guidance for federal contractors and subcontractors. The 14-page guidance provides that “covered contractor employees” must be fully vaccinated by December 8, 2021, unless a religious or medical exemption applies. There is no testing option for employees who choose not
On September 22, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) finalized a regulation which allows for penalties up to $1,100 per violation, plus back wages owed, whenever the DOL finds tipped workers have been cheated of tips. Previously, a Trump Administration rule, which was never finalized, only allowed fines to be imposed for “repeated and
On June 24, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to roll back a rule created under the Trump Administration governing EEOC conciliation as an alternative process to litigation for resolving workplace discrimination allegations. This paves the way for final repeal of the rule through President Biden’s signature since the Senate also voted to repeal
At the beginning of the pandemic, many employers began to require employees to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms prior to starting work. Common screenings include daily temperature checks and symptom questionnaires, as well as questions about recent travel or recent exposure to COVID-19. Predictably, lawsuits have started to surface by employees alleging state and federal
In a previous post on July 22, 2020, we reported on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) Pilot Program which modified certain aspects of the EEOC’s mediation program. In October, 2020, the EEOC announced proposed changes to its conciliation process. Conciliation differs from mediation in that mediation provides both parties an opportunity to mediate
In 2019, McDonald’s Corporation fired its CEO Steve Easterbrook after it learned he had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate employee. The relationship came to light when the subordinate employee reported that she engaged in a consensual relationship with Easterbrook that involved explicit text messages and photographs, but no physical contact. Naturally, McDonald’s investigated the