Are employers required to conduct human rights due diligence in their global operations?

The scope and scale of many employers’ global operations and their global supply chains are expanding. This expansion has led to a greater focus on the risk of corporate human rights abuses such as forced labor, child labor, and other forms of modern slavery.

Scott Forman explains how firms must adopt integrated technology in order to operate collectively.

LegalTech News

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On January 10, 2023, Governor Philip D. Murphy signed into law S3162 / A4768, which makes the 2020 amendments to NJ WARN effective 90 days from his signature, irrespective of whether a State of Emergency still exists.

As previously reported, under these amendments:

Currently, employees in the UK on statutory maternity, adoption or shared parental leave who are at risk of redundancy have priority rights to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy (but only where such a vacancy exists).

New regulations have been introduced to extend redundancy protections, both before (for pregnant employees only) and after the return to work. These regulations arose in response to research that found that mothers returning from maternity leave still faced discrimination in the workplace after returning from leave.

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

Confilegal

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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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William Foster and Katie Towery share the changes in the legal landscape and how it could result in manufacturers’ increased liability for workplace accidents. 

Industry Today

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On August 8, 2023, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed into law Act No. 85-2023, effective immediately. The statute amends Puerto Rico’s Workers’ Compensation Act by further incentivizing safe workplaces.

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.

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.

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

The Internal Revenue Service recently issued proposed regulations under Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) that prescribe rules regarding deferred compensation plans sponsored by state and local governments and tax-exempt organizations.  These regulations relate primarily to the taxes imposed (under Code Section 457(f)) on the organization at the time the individual’s right to compensation vests, without regard to actual time of payment. 

To tackle illegal employment through subcontracting more effectively, the Flemish government improved chain liability, and introduced a duty of care. According to this duty of care, companies working with subcontractors in the Flemish Region are obliged to request certain data from these subcontractors (Cf. Decree of 27/10/2023).  

The Flemish Government's Implementing Decree was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on June 4, 2024, containing a checklist of the specific data to be requested. The decision will enter into force on January 1, 2025. 

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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Zoe Argento talks about the two main types of valuable and sensitive information that employees typically steal and offers ways employers can prevent workplace theft.

SHRM Online

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In the first major action of 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it had entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with a publicly traded global software company for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The January 10, 2024 announcement described the company’s agreement to pay more than $220 million in connection with the investigation, consisting of just under $120 million in criminal penalties.  While significant, these fines were reduced based on the pilot program announced by the DOJ last spring, as described below.

The White House on November 4 announced that the deadline for employers covered by the federal contractor vaccine requirement to comply with the vaccine mandate will be extended from December 8, 2021 to January 4, 2022.

On February 1, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) presented a webinar on its new contractor portal through which covered contractors are being asked to certify whether they are meeting their requirement to develop and maintain annual affirmative action programs.

On December 14, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor issued final regulations requiring the so-called “nondisplacement” of workers performing work on contracts for the federal government under the Service Contract Act (SCA). These regulations implement Executive Order 14055, “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts,” President Biden signed on November 18, 2021.

Dan Boatright discusses the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision to strike down the 80/20 labor rule and what that decision means for employers. 

Nation’s Restaurant News

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Anne C. Sanchez and Briana M. Swift explain what employers need to know about the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO), a local ordinance that requires employers to make certain healthcare expenditures on behalf of their San Francisco-based employees.

SHRM

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The Euless, Texas Fair Overtime and Scheduling Standards Ordinance that imposed predictive scheduling obligations on covered employers is no more.   

The Unusual Origin of the Ordinance 

Workforce reductions, whether in the form of hours reductions, furloughs, or layoffs, are often a last resort for employers experiencing financial pressures. Nevertheless, when these actions are necessary, time typically is of the essence, because when shedding payroll is the objective, the more drawn out the process, the smaller will be any financial savings. But quick decisions need not be careless decisions. The key is to thoroughly understand the risks before making decisions that later may result in potential liability.