Labor & Employment Law Update

The average life expectancy in the U.S. has declined for three consecutive years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) links that decline to three factors: the rise in drug overdoses, an increase in liver disease, and a rise in suicide rates. More than 2 million Americans from all walks of life suffer from an opioid use disorder (OUD), and about two-thirds of those people are in the workforce. This has a tremendous financial impact on employers:  In 2016, U.S. large employers covered $2.6 billion on treatment for OUD and overdose, up from $0.3 billion in 2004.  

OUD ...

While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Clearinghouse Rule became effective on January 4, 2017, it has been a while so here is a reminder that the Rule goes into effect on January 6, 2020, just over a week away.

Despite delays, be assured the Clearinghouse website is now allowing employers to register.  So before you open that first present or have an eggnog in your favorite moose mug to enjoy the holidays, make sure you are registered and understand the new requirements. While the Clearinghouse’s FAQ’s are extremely helpful in providing ...

This month, two federal circuit court of appeals reversed district courts’ grants of summary judgment in cases filed under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). With these twin cases, it seems as good of a time as any to provide a brief refresher on employee rights and employer obligations regarding those in military service. 

On December 3, 2019, the Tenth Circuit reversed a decision by the U.S. District Court of Kansas in Greer v. City of Wichita, which dismissed an USERRA claim alleging that a city museum denied an employee an interview for a ...

It has been a busy week for the National Labor Relations Board which issued three decisions in quick succession on December 16 and 17. Each of the three is a clear win for employers.

In the first of the three, the Board restored employers’ right to stop deducting and remitting union dues after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement requiring it to do so. Valley Hospital Medical Center, 368 NLRB No. 139 (2019). The Board held that so-called “dues checkoff provisions” exist only by virtue of the parties’ contract and therefore cease when that contract expires ...

On December 13, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued notice of new regulations designed to materially change what is commonly referred to as the “Quickie Election” Rule. The new regulations, set to take effect on April 16, 2020, will materially help employers combat labor unions in the private sector by primarily providing more time to react to and educate the workforce on the “Good, Bad & Ugly” of what union representation actually means to workers.  

As a brief reminder… the “Quickie Election” Rule is a set of unprecedented regulations that the Obama ...

After the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018, U.S. academic institutions continue to grapple with compliance issues. Institutions must address areas where there is exposure to risk and train their employees to minimize that exposure.

One area of risk is the flow of data. Who on campus is the gatekeeper handling the data? Most universities will have a Data Protection Officer (DPO) as required by Article 37 of the GDPR. Other campus GDPR actors may include University Counsel, Information Technology Officers, Information Security ...

By now, you most likely have heard the phrase “OK Boomer.”  What began as a meme, quickly went viral.  Soon enough, Boomer’s themselves have been seen using the phrase in jest.  Elizabeth Warren recently used it as the subject line of an email fundraiser (next to a winking emoji). The phrase was the subject of an entire editorial on the most recent CBS Sunday Morning episode.  For those of you entirely out of the loop on this one: Dictionary.com lists “OK Boomer” as a “slang phrase” used “to call out or dismiss out of touch or close-minded opinions associated with the Baby ...

In Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 epic 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL 9000, a fictional artificial intelligence machine, helps guide a space mission to Jupiter, but through the course of the film is revealed to be a villainous presence. Fast forward 50 years and, although artificial intelligence (AI) has yet to lead a crew of astronauts to Jupiter, AI now pervades our lives in many seen and unseen ways, including employment recruiting. For example, AI commonly helps companies sort through voluminous resumes to identify qualified candidates. By some estimates, roughly 40 percent of ...

On September 23, 2019 the IRS issued final regulations updating the rules governing hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans. They are generally similar to the proposed regulations issued late last year and primarily reflect changes made by the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

Some of the changes in the final regulations are mandatory, requiring employers to take action by January 1, 2020.

1. Eliminates of the 6-month contribution suspension requirement

Beginning January 1, 2020, 401(k) and 403(b) plans will no longer be able to suspend ...

The US Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed amendment to the regulation governing the fluctuating workweek (29 CFR 778.114). The fluctuating workweek can be used to calculate overtime for an employee whose hours fluctuate from week to week based on the nature of the job. The DOL’s proposed amendment is to clarify that there is no issue with paying a bonus, shift premium, or additional pay to someone who is being paid via the fluctuating workweek method, but such extra payment will increase the regular rate of pay for calculating overtime unless the additional pay ...