Thelma Akpan and Katelyn McCombs discuss a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision that reversed a long-held understanding of the Equal Pay Act and could have a significant effect on equal pay litigation.

Law360

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Jim Paretti explains his view about the independent contractor rule that applies to real estate agents, and how it’s reviving an ongoing debate weeks before the regulation is set to take effect.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Alyesha Asghar discusses the potential impact for employers after the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Title VII in Muldrow v. St Louis.

Law360 Employment Authority

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In 2019, California adopted several laws that restricted “non-disclosure" provisions in employment-related agreements.  Those laws, passed in the wake of the “me too” movement, limited non-disclosure provisions in settlement agreements for lawsuits and administrative agency charges involving allegations of sexual harassment.¹  They also limited the use of non-disclosure provisions in exchange for a raise or a bonus, or as a co

Isha Malhotra, Trent Sutton and Nancy Zhang offer guidelines for in-house counsel when advising a business on a restructure in APAC.

ACC Docket

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In the first such decision from a federal appellate court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled the COVID-19 pandemic is not a “natural disaster” that exempts employers from providing advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closures under the WARN Act. The court also opined that the natural-disaster exception requires proof of proximate causation, not but-for causation.¹

Jorge Sales Boyoli weighs in on a reform that was almost passed in Mexico, which “violates the most sacred thing that a worker has: his salary.” 

El Heraldo de Mexico

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Jeanine Conley Daves discusses the fact that women still, in the year 2022, are rarely compensated on par with their male counterparts and suggests solutions for workplace parity.

Philadelphia Business Journal

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Devjani Mishra, Barry Hartstein and Michael Lotito provide insight into the findings of Littler’s Annual Employer Survey and several workplace issues and the fast-changing regulations facing employers. (Subscription required.)

Human Resource Executive

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Iván López García de la Riva discusses Spain’s plan to raise severance payments in certain situations. 

CincoDías

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Claire Deason weighs in on whether employers are obligated to pay for remote employees' commutes into work, business expenses and paid sick time.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Stephen T. Melnick discusses the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA)’s revised workers’ compensation notice for employees, which Massachusetts employers will start using Sept. 16, 2024.

SHRM

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On January 27, 2022, in New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund v. C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., the Second Circuit joined the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits in applying the doctrine of successor liability to claims for withdrawal liability under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The court did not, however, find successor liability in this case because the acquiring company specifically did not acquire the facility or employees that triggered the liability.

A recent federal appeals court case clarifies that, under ERISA, the regulations governing disability plans’ claims review procedures apply to claims that predate the 2018 changes to the regulations. The decision also serves as a reminder for plan administrators to review their claims review procedures to ensure compliance with the current requirements for a “full and fair review” benefits appeal process.

The Claims Review Regulations

Golf is one of the most significant informal business networks and approximately half of all women feel like their exclusion from these gateways is among the key challenges to reaching the highest echelons of corporate leadership. As a prelude to the 2022 edition of the “Masters Season,” Littler Principal Cindy-Ann Thomas explores how enduring barriers in recreational golf impact meaningful access and equity gains for women in corporate America.

In celebration of Disability Pride Month, Jennifer Duke, Littler Learning Group Director and attorney, talks with Anna Curry Gualano, Littler Principal and co-chair of the firm’s Individuals with Disabilities affinity group, about the importance of disability inclusion and its impact in the workplace for both employers and employees.
  

Trent Sutton and Thelma Akpan explore key reasons why employers in the APAC region should begin to think about pay equity and wage transparency or prepare to implement their own wage transparency initiatives.
 

The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) has published a revised workers’ compensation Notice to Employees, which Massachusetts employers should use starting September 16, 2024.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill on September 4, 2024 that requires retail employers to develop and implement workplace violence prevention training and policies, among other measures.  The law becomes effective 180 days after her signature, or March 3, 2025.

In June 2023, the Georgia Court of Appeals held in North American Senior Benefits, LLC v. Wimmer that an employee non-solicitation covenant must contain an express geographic limitation to be enforceable.

The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) Office of Labor Standards (COLS) recently posted updates to its website regarding minimum wage obligations, paid leave and paid sick and safe leave, new fair work week thresholds, and updated required labor notices. The compliance deadline for these obligations is July 1, 2024.

Effective June 19, 2024, New York employers will be required to provide up to 30 minutes of paid lactation breaks to employees each time an employee has a reasonable need to express breast milk at work. This change to New York Labor Law Section 206-c is set forth in Bill No. A08806C, part of the New York State budget bill, which Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law on April 19, 2024. Specifically, amended Section 206-c provides:

If you have employees working in Oregon, chances are you have heard about Oregon’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program also known as Paid Leave Oregon (“PLO”). In addition to PLO, eligible Oregon employees may be entitled to leave under the Oregon Family Medical Leave Act (“OFLA”), Oregon Sick Time law (“OSTL”), and the federal Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).

Lisa Shevlin and Cristin Casey review Oregon’s leave laws and offer some suggested strategies to help employers maintain compliance.

SHRM

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Ole Kristian Olsby and Nina Elisabeth Thjømøe explain the regulations around gender equality and discrimination in the workplace.

International Law Office (ILO)

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As more and more employers take steps to improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workplace, there’s an increasing demand to know if those measures are successful. In this podcast, Alyesha Dotson, Littler Shareholder, discusses ways in which employers can track progress in their DE&I efforts without tripping over legal hazards, and gauge individual and organizational change.
  

Erin Webber shares her experience of being a woman in the legal profession and how her firm, Littler, is a leader in gender diversity.

Law360 Pulse

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Erin Webber shares how inclusion, equity and diversity has positively impacted her legal career at Littler. 

L'Economia

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Jennifer Youpa and Nina Markey discuss the importance of advancing gender equity in the workplace, how access and representation are critical to creating opportunities for women, and how women can help each other achieve their professional goals.
  

An effective way to increase diversity hiring is to require diverse candidate slates for interviewing. Such slates include at least two diverse or women candidates in the pool of finalists. Employers should take heed, however, because there are limits to which a recruiter or a staffing agency can go in building such a slate. Alyesha Dotson discusses the avenues to intentionally recruit for diversity in a fair and smart manner to avoid violating antidiscrimination laws.
  

Watershed events in recent years like the resurgence of Black Lives Matter and #MeToo have galvanized organizations to step up their commitments in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space to gauge the “cultural temperature.” The persisting pandemic has raised the stakes. Accordingly, many companies seeking a roadmap for these efforts increasingly want to begin their journey with a snapshot of who’s in the mix and how they are feeling. Enter the “Diversity Questionnaire.”

Littler Principal Cindy-Ann Thomas and her guest, Littler Shareholder Alyesha Dotson:

Barry Hartstein explains his view of the EEOC’s vaccination incentives.

HR Dive

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Teresa Trigueros discusses workplace harassment and its protocols.

Confilegal

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In this attorney-authored article, Steven Friedman of Littler's New York office and Ellen Sueda of Littler's San Francisco office discuss the ambiguities in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the changes that financial institutions must make to their current compensation practices in light of the current legislative language.

The recently enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank") mandates, for publicly traded companies, shareholder advisory votes on compensation packages provided to top executives and on "golden parachute" packages payable in connection with corporate transactions.

Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") generally limits the deductibility of compensation paid by a publicly traded corporation to its top executive officers (the "covered employees") to $1 million annually (the "Million Dollar Cap"). However, this limit will not apply to certain amounts that qualify as "performance-based compensation." Compensation attributable to stock options, stock appreciation rights ("SARs") and restricted stock grants may qualify as performance-based compensation if they meet certain requirements.

The Virginia Supreme Court has spoken again on the calculation of damages in a complex employment contract case. In Online Resources Corp. v. Lawlor, No. 120208 (Va. Jan. 10, 2013), the court addressed the expert qualifications required for the valuation of equity following the termination of the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) ("executive") of a publicly-traded company, as well as the applicability of Delaware Corporations Law to related change in control (CIC) provisions. 

Background