Rhonda Levy comments on an Ontario Supreme Court ruling in which the court struck down a claim made by a temporary foreign worker seeking damages against his employer for the statutory tort of human trafficking.

Law Times

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Lavanga V. Wijekoon and Emily Linn examine a new Illinois law (SB 1782) that enhances restrictions on the employment of minors and imposes certain new civil and criminal penalties on violating employers.

SHRM

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Zev Eigen authored an article covering the data science revolution in HR, as well as tools readily available to employers.

The Lawyer's Daily

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Alex MacDonald explains why natural labor law and principles may soon return to center stage in the legal world. 

North Dakota Law Review

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In London District Catholic School Board v.

Over a year and a half since the pandemic first started to take its toll on the health and welfare of individuals and the economy, the country is still reeling and struggling to recover. Some employers and industries were able to pivot and weather the devastating effects of COVID-19. Others scaled back operations or closed permanently due to changes in demand, supply chain issues, or hiring shortfalls.  As businesses start to reopen, employers are facing new challenges.

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Javier Thibault weighs in on the Spanish parliament’s recent labor reform agreement and its effects on the recovery and the labor market. 

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Michael Lotito talks about the fifth-annual Labor Day Report from Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, which examined the state of the labor market and several impending worker-friendly changes to state and federal workplace policy.

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On March 10, 2021, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced that it will not enforce or otherwise pursue enforcement actions with respect to two recently issued final rules amending the “investment duties” regulation under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Second Circuit’s decision in Laurent v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which held that retirees could receive money damages in the form of recalculated benefits in a class action over how the company’s cash balance pension plan calculated lump-sum benefits.

In honor and celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Littler attorneys William Ng (Long Island), Hinna Upal (Rochester) and Gregory Iskander (Walnut Creek) discuss how their journeys to leadership were built on promoting collaboration, finding community and creating opportunities for other diverse attorneys.
 

In this episode of our Women’s History Month podcast series, Conversations with Women, WLI co-chair Margaret Hogan talks with three Littler associates who have shaped their legal careers in the area of traditional labor. Listen as Kameron Miller, Ashton Hupman and Brittany Stepp tell their stories of being women attorneys in a field that has traditionally been dominated by men.
  

On September 10, 2024, the Puerto Rico Secretary of Labor issued an Opinion (No. 2024-02) to clarify and provide additional information about the application of Act No. 27-2024, known as the "Act to Facilitate the Implementation of Remote Work in the Private Sector and to Incentivize the Establishment of Airline Bases in Puerto Rico.” Act No. 27-2024 exempts from certain employment law coverage domiciled and non-domiciled employees working remotely from Puerto Rico for out-of-state employers with no business nexus to Puerto Rico, and certain unionized airline employees.  

The focus of this 2011 Littler Report is to provide employers with information to prepare and plan for regulations recently passed and those currently making their way through the agency rulemaking process. Part One of this Littler Report will set the stage and define the challenge employers will face in the coming years as the Obama Administration enters the second half of its term.

Canada saw significant developments in labour and employment law in 2019.  As we embark on a new decade, we will undoubtedly see the landscape in this ever-changing area of law continue to evolve.   Here is our Littler LLP overview of 15 key developments in 2019 with links to more detailed articles and commentary:

Alexander Thomas MacDonald provides insight into the new regulations under theH-2A visa program. 

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently announced a streamlined process for foreign workers to request deferred action. Deferred action is a type of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal action (deportation) for a noncitizen for a certain time period.  The new process will apply where these workers are participating in or otherwise involved an investigation or enforcement action by a federal, state, or local labor and employment agency.    

Under the previous UK Home Secretary, James Cleverly, minimum salary thresholds for Skilled Worker visas were raised significantly and the 20% discount for shortage occupations were eliminated.

Both the Conservative and Labour manifestos vowed to lower immigration each year, leaving employers wondering what changes are on the horizon.

Review of IT and engineering roles

Michael Lotito said labor policy changes could be delayed in a second Trump administration depending on the shifting makeup at the NLRB.

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The past year has brought sweeping changes to the world of work. Federal agencies finalized rules on minimum wage and overtime exemptions, union representation elections, pregnancy accommodations, OSHA inspections, and non-compete agreements. The Supreme Court scaled back agency rulemaking authority and lowered the bar for bringing discrimination claims. State legislatures expanded the patchwork of employment laws on a host of workplace topics. Meanwhile, the looming presidential election adds another layer of uncertainty to the mix.

Alexander T. MacDonald says predistributional labor policies do none of the things they’re supposed to do and, in fact, amplify the problems they’re supposed to solve.

The Federalist Society

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Meredith Shoop talks about the Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface where covered federal contractors can upload their affirmative action plans for review.

Government Executive

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Alexander MacDonald says without Chevron, agency rulemakings will likely stick closer to the statute or take “fewer big swings” when it comes to interpreting the law.

Bloomberg Law

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Alexander MacDonald talks about how the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Chevron will likely impact rulemaking across the federal government.

Law360

Alexander T. MacDonald and Michael J. Lotito review four decisions in the U.S. Supreme Court's recently completed term and discuss how the rulings may affect employment law.

Westlaw Today

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Alex MacDonald says the NLRB's judges aren’t necessarily the sort of officers whom the president has the power to remove under Jarkesy and Supreme Court precedents.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Javier Molina discusses the challenges of employers giving employees gifts for Christmas.

Expansión

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Verónica M. Torres-Torres explains new guidance on exemptions for remote workers and airline staff in Puerto Rico.

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On February 19, 2021, the U.S.

On December 23, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (the “Act”),¹ which bars the importation into the United States of products made from forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China.  This Act will significantly impact many multinational employers’ supply chains because raw materials from this region – such as cotton, coal, chemicals, sugar, tomatoes and polysilicon (a component in solar panels) – have found their way into many global supply chains.  Indeed, these materials arrive on U.S.

Donald Dowling says abusive labor practices are a huge problem around the world, and often the smaller local manufacturers, miners and growers within countries that are committing labor abuses are bigger problems than the multinational firms.

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In mid-November, the UAE Cabinet approved a new Labour Law, Federal Law Number 33 of 2021 (the New Labour Law) which will come into force on 2 February 2022 and repeals Law Number 8 of 1980 (the Old Law), replacing it entirely. The New Labour Law consolidates many of the changes which have been introduced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MHRE) through various regulations over the past five years and also introduces significant new changes, thus amounting to a radical overhaul of labour relations in the UAE.

The Decent Work Agenda (DWA) 2023 is the most important Portuguese legislative package dedicated to labor and employment law enacted over the last 10 years. The DWA entered into force on May 1, 2023, and has modified more than 70 aspects of the Portuguese Labor Code and other employment-related legislation (e.g., social security, temporary work law, Portuguese Labor Code of Procedure, and the Act for Services of Inspection by the Portuguese Labor Administration).

The pandemic seems not to have slowed down state and local lawmakers.  Indeed, over 100 new labor and employment laws and ordinances are scheduled to take effect between July 1, 2021 and November 1, 2021.

The federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that certain employers can claim federal tax credits when employees use emergency paid leave to accompany an individual to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination and/or to care for an individual recovering from an injury, disability, illness, or condition related to the vaccine.

On December 14, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) signed and published a Memorandum of Understanding for Employment Tax Referrals (the “MOU”). The MOU establishes a system for referrals from the DOL’s Wage & Hour Division (WHD) to the Small Business/Self Employed Specialty Employment Tax unit (“SB/SE”).