Employers that rely on non-compete agreements to protect their trade secrets and other legitimate business interests got some welcome news on August 20.

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.

Back in June, we highlighted that, from October 26, 2024, all employers in the UK will have a mandatory duty to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the course of their employment.

Sophie Vanhegan says employers must continue to shift culture and workplace dynamics to encourage greater awareness of and support for mental health matters. 

People Management

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Kristy Peters shares her legal insight on recent changes in labor and employment laws.

Greater Phoenix In Business Magazine

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UPDATE: On August 21, 2024, the Attorney General and State of Michigan asked the Michigan Supreme Court to clarify – no later than September 15, 2024 – various rulings in its July 31, 2024 decision, e.g.: 1) How the state should calculate CPI adjustments for the preset minimum wage rates in 2025 through 2028; 2) Whether, aside from in 2025, future minimum wage rates will take effect on February 21 or January 1; and 3) Whether the court intended to have the minimum cash wage increase from 80% (2028) to 100% (2029) rather than 80% (2028), 90%

After the UK general election was announced, the following legislation was approved by Parliament during what is known as 'the wash-up' period towards the end of May 2024. Some of these require further regulations to bring them into force, and when (or if) they will be brought into force will be largely dependent upon the new government’s priorities and policies. 

Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024

Peter Petesch discusses several key considerations for employers considering role reassignment as an accommodation – most notably, that reassignment should always be an option during the accommodation process.

SHRM

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The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was established in 2008 to document the history and legacy of residential schools, which were operated between the late 1800s and the late 1990s by the federal government and Christian churches as part of a federal policy to assimilate Indigenous peoples into Canadian society.

Ole Kristian Olsby and Nina Elisabeth Thjømøe clarify how to actively prevent sexual harassment and unwanted attention in the workplace through a recent Supreme Court ruling.

International Law Office (ILO)

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LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (February 25, 2021) – William Ng, a shareholder in the Long Island office of Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has been named president-elect of the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) effective April 1, 2021.

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

L'Economia

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Helene Wasserman shares her view on how mentorships can positively impact career paths.

The National Law Review

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Report reviews the myriad forces transforming the workplace and formalizes Littler’s Global Workplace Transformation Initiative

William Ng shares how he plans to use his president-elect status of the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) to help Asian Americans advance in the legal profession while combating racism. 

Binghamton University Alumni Connect

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Jim Paretti shares his opinion on the EEOC’s response to COVID-19 vaccine incentives.

Law360 Employment Authority

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(June 3, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has selected Shareholder Jeremy Hawpe (Dallas) as co-chair of its Pride affinity group, joining Shareholder Lauren Schwartzreich (Denver), and succeeding Shareholder Darren Gibson (Austin) who is stepping down to focus on his growing and active practice.

Teresa Trigueros discusses workplace harassment and its protocols.

Confilegal

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As the current economic crisis escalates and governmental plans to provide billions of dollars to intervene in the capital markets take shape, financial institutions and other businesses are being forced to restructure their operations through merger, acquisition or reductions in force. The tough economic climate will also, no doubt, lead companies to reassess their benefit plans and executive compensation packages. However, employers must evaluate their own responses to these developments to ensure that they are complying with legal requirements and proceeding cautiously.

In Schachter v. Citigroup, Inc.,¹ the California Supreme Court rejected claims that an incentive plan that conditioned the earning of restricted stock based on continued service was unlawful where the employee voluntarily elected to participate in the plan, and the employee quit before the date on which the incentive was earned. The plan was lawful even though the incentive plan was funded from wages that the employee would have otherwise received in cash.

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.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released proposed rules on March 2, 2011, in connection with provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that prohibit "covered financial institutions" from providing incentive-based compensation that encourages inappropriate risks, by providing either excessive compensation or incentives that could lead to material financial loss to the institution.

By now, most lawyers advising international companies on compensation packages for expatriates that include deferred compensation are familiar with section 409A of the United States Internal Revenue Code ("US tax code" or "Code").

On August 29, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court in Exxon Mobil Corp. v.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its new immigration-related fines/penalties, effective January 15, 2024. Immigration-related violations before the DOL involve these visas: H-1B, H-2A, and H-2B. These increases are pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015. Since that time, penalties have been adjusted yearly based on the rate of inflation.

Below are the offenses, including regulation citations, with the old and new penalties:

On January 30, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an increase to its filing fees across the board. The last such increase was in 2016. This change will be effective April 1, 2024. In some cases, increases are minor, but several are substantive.

In February 2024, Poland’s government revealed that it is working on a comprehensive migration strategy for the years 2025-2030, advertised as a “responsible and safe” approach. The Ministry of Interior and Administration plans to spend the first half of 2024 conducting consultations to learn the preferences and expectations on migration and foreigners’ employment from various stakeholders, including the country’s biggest employers and their organizations, as well the trade unions.

In the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement, Jeremy Hunt promised that “the government will expand the business Visitor rules to allow businesspeople to engage in a wider range of permitted activities and paid engagements, to take effect from January 2024. The government will also explore further reforms to the business visitor rules during 2024.”

The first of these changes took effect from January 31, 2024. They were not a major reform of the business and other permitted activities that can be carried out on a visit visa, but there are some important changes.

UPDATE: Since publication, we made a clarifying edit concerning the reasons an employee will be able to use paid sick leave under the amended law.

The Washington state legislature and certain localities recently passed several bills affecting employers, some of which have already been signed into law. These measures address non-compete agreements, mandatory employer-sponsored meetings, immigration reporting, paid leave, and the minimum wage. Each new bill or ordinance is discussed below. 

New Law Expands and Clarifies Non-Compete Statute

On August 9, 2024, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 0508 (“SB0508”) into law. This new law provides additional employment protections for individuals flagged by an employment eligibility verification system, including federal E-Verify, as having identification discrepancies. The new rights and protections created by SB0508 will take effect on January 1, 2025. This evaluation does not address whether the state law directly restricts or curtails the use of E Verify.

Michael Lotito says the future decisions and direction of the NLRB depend on whether Chair Lauren McFerran is confirmed to remain in her current position for another five years.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Counsel representing banks in employment litigation need to understand the special privileges and rules regarding access to bank records and disclosures to regulators.

By Philip M. Berkowitz | July 13, 2022

UPDATE: This law took effect on February 8, 2024.

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2024 has been a fruitful year in the UK for whistleblowing law so far, with three key cases employers should be aware of:

Can an external job applicant qualify as a whistleblower?

One of the very first questions to ask when presented with a whistleblowing claim in the UK is whether the person who made the disclosure was entitled to protection. The Employment Rights Act 1996 protects employees from dismissal, and protects employees and workers from detriment, for having made protected disclosures. But does it cover job applicants?