On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued its long-awaited final rule regarding non-compete agreements. The FTC determined that non-compete agreements are an unfair method of competition and, therefore, a violation of the FTC Act. Once the rule is effective, employers may not enter new non-compete agreements with employees or enforce existing non-compete agreements against
On February 27, Judge James Hendrix from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that the federal government cannot enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) against the state of Texas as an employer.
The PWFA went into effect on June 27, 2023 and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations
Employers finally have some guidance regarding the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which went into effect on June 27, 2023. On August 11, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement the law. The proposed rule will now enter a 60-day comment period, during which interested parties can
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt that an employee who earned more than $200,000 a year was not exempt from overtime pay under the FLSA’s highly compensated employee exemption.
The highly compensated employee exemption applies to employees who meet all the following criteria:
After a dramatic few days, Maryland joins nine other states (and the District of Columbia) in implementing a paid family and medical leave program. On March 31st, the Maryland General Assembly passed “The Time to Care Act of 2022,” which established the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Fund. Just eight days later, on April 8
Last week, the Senate passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (H.R. 4445) (the “Act”), which prohibits the enforcement of mandatory arbitration agreements in connection with sexual harassment and sexual assault claims. The measure had previously passed in the House on February 7th. Although President Biden has not
Over the weekend, in a 2-1 decision, the Sixth Circuit lifted the stay of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) regarding mandatory employee vaccination or testing requirements. The ETS was originally issued on November 5, 2021 but was stayed by the Fifth Circuit on November 6, 2021.
In its decision to lift the stay, the Sixth
In July, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to develop enforcement and implementation procedures for President Biden’s Executive Order 14026. Executive Order 14026, which was signed on April 27, 2021, requires federal contractors to pay their employees at least $15.00 per hour beginning January 30, 2022. Beginning January
The light at the tunnel is near! Due to the increase in vaccinations in the United States, the CDC has issued updated guidance regarding “fully vaccinated” individuals. For purposes of the guidance, an individual is considered fully vaccinated two or more weeks after receiving the second shot of a two-dose vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) or
On December 16 the EEOC updated its guidance regarding the COVID-19 pandemic to include questions and answers regarding the COVID-19 vaccination. Per the guidance, employers may mandate employees receive the vaccine, but employers who do so, must keep in mind employment non-discrimination laws. Noteworthy provisions of the updated guidance are summarized below: