One week ago, the White House budget office wrapped up its review of a rule that would make more workers qualify as “independent contractors” under federal law. The completion of the OMB review generally signals that the final rule will be published soon in the Federal Register. The proposed version of the rule would create…
Read More »The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) formally authorized entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with other agencies to improve collaboration and enforcement of federal labor laws. The full complement of 5 EEOC Commissioners (3 republican & 2 democrat members) met publicly, albeit virtually, for the first time in quite a while to discuss and…
Read More »Last Friday, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued revised regulations for the implementation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). If I’m not mistaken, that would make at least a couple of times that the agency has issued new or updated FFCRA regulations. The FFCRA was first enacted back on March 18 and…
Read More »On Tuesday of this week, Judge Gregory Woods of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that portions of the Department of Labor (DOL) regulation on the issue was “arbitrary and capricious” and in conflict with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). New York v. Scalia, in which 17 different…
Read More »Every so often, we like to remind our small business owners of some of the myriad mandates and dictates with which they must comply. One of those that we all can easily overlook is the requirement to post certain information relating federal and/or state laws. Federal law requires that all employers with less than 50…
Read More »The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) this week issued an interim final rule increasing the level of long-term transparency available to employees to assess their retirement income. Specifically, the rule implements part of the SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019) that amended ERISA by requiring a…
Read More »With the DC focus on the next iteration of COVID-19 legislative relief, one could easily forget the earlier economic stimulus laws and their implementation, but the courts this week kept the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) in the forefront. The FFCRA made as many as 61 million workers eligible for paid sick leave and…
Read More »It’s been over a decade since the US Department of Labor (DOL) abandoned its long practice of issuing opinion letters in response to employer questions on Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) application. Back in 2009, DOL changed that historic approach to resolving issues relating FLSA and began suing employers as the primary approach to enforcing…
Read More »A half-dozen business advocacy groups got the judicial OK this week to intervene in defending the Department of Labor (DOL) joint employer definition and the regulatory test pertaining thereto. A federal judge sitting on the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the request of the US Chamber of Commerce, the…
Read More »There seems to be a steady stream of interim and final rules being promulgated by various agencies of the federal government recently and the Department of Labor joined the parade this week as well. DOL issued a final rule allowing employers to offer those workers with “flexible workweeks” bonuses and/or hazard pay without jeopardizing how…
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