With the usual flurry of activity at the end of the legislative session, California has enacted a slew of bills with labor and employment ramifications.¹ Closing out his first year in office, Governor Gavin Newsom signed more than 40 such bills on a wide variety of topics, ranging from antidiscrimination and workplace safety measures to the much-debated worker classification bill (AB 5) codifying the ABC test from last year’s Dynamex case.

Zev Eigen and Marko Mrkonich explore the benefits and potential risks of using data analytics to augment HR decision-making processes.

SHRM Online

View Article

Philip Gordon suggests steps that employers should take in response to the privacy act.

SHRM Online

View Article 

Jim Paretti weighs in on the NLRB’s latest effort to broaden the joint employer rule.

Law360 Pulse

View (Subscription required.)

Effective May 11, 2024, New York City now prohibits employers from entering into any type of agreement that shortens the statutory period by which an employee may file an administrative claim or complaint, or civil action, relating to unlawful discriminatory practices, harassment or violence under the New York City Human Rights Law, Admin. Code § 8-101, et seq. (NYCHRL).

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.

Bradford Kelley discusses the importance of employers reviewing their leave of absence policies to ensure compliance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.

Law360 

View (Subscription required)

The Home Office has updated its guide on right to work (work authorization) checks for employers in the UK.

Changes coming into effect this month include a less flexible approach to late applications to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) for Europeans and their families and a hike in penalties for illegal working.

Right to work changes for EEA citizens

Shannon Meade and Michael Lotito discuss key issues that employers are facing now, according to Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute’s 2024 Labor Day Report.

Human Resource Executive

View (Subscription required)

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

View

Joy Rosenquist talks about some of the 30 new California laws she thinks are particularly significant for employers, including rules addressing pay transparency and off-duty cannabis use.

Law360 Employment Authority

View (Subscription required.) 

Dear Littler,

On August 22, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its decision in Synoracki v. Alaska Airlines, Inc., reviving a class action under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).¹ The case was brought by pilots who served in the Air Force Reserves who were seeking from their civilian employer sick leave and vacation accruals during periods of military leave.

Sarah Bryan Fask says the dispute over retired miners’ health benefits is notable because the decision "could impact whether unions could try to use a dispute resolution procedure within a collective bargaining agreement as a venue to dispute anticipated post-collective bargaining agreement changes."

Law360 

View (Subscription required.)

Raoul Parekh talks about current workplace issues reflected in Littler’s 2023 European Employer Survey Report, including remote work and a four-day work week.

Law360

View (Subscription required.)

The Supreme Court has ruled that transgender people are protected under the Civil Rights Act, and so Joycelyn Stevenson and Sarah Belchic say employers need to ensure that their health care plans are inclusive.

The Tennessean

View

Mark Callaghan says the new UK government should increase Statutory Paternity Pay “in excess of inflation,” because it would benefit businesses and families alike.

People Management

View

Mikayla Almeida, Kimberly Doud and Anne Sanchez LaWer explain to employers about how implementing benefits related to women’s health and fertility could reduce turnover and retain talent.

ACC Central Florida

View

Steve Biddle examines the recently expanded Arizona Civil Rights Act (ACRA) as well as new ordinances passed by Arizona cities that expand protected categories and coverage.

SHRM Online

View (Subscription required.)

Devjani Mishra discusses employers coming up with COVID-19 safety rules that are appropriate for their own workplace.

Law360 Employment Authority

View (Subscription required.)

Speaking about I-9 retention periods, Jorge Lopez advises employers to be prudent and make a purge process part of the I-9 compliance module.

SHRM Online

View (Subscription required.)

The latest binge watch for many of us at GQ|Littler was the Netflix hit, “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders,” which follows a year in the life of NFL’s Dallas Cowboys cheerleading team.

Voters in several states will decide whether marijuana or, in one case, psychedelic substances should be legal in the upcoming November 5, 2024 general election. Employers should keep their eyes on these ballot measures and prepare for questions regarding changes to workplace policies if some or all of them pass. A rundown of the ballot measures in these jurisdictions follows.

In Mexico, the fiscal authority has dramatically strengthened all the strategies that allow for better control and collection of employment taxes, and Jorge Sales Boyoli explains what that means for employers.

Forbes Mexico

View

Dear Littler: Considering the recent passage of the federal Speak Out Act limiting the use of pre-dispute nondisclosure and non-disparagement clauses involving sexual assault and sexual harassment claims, what impact will this have on our template releases, separation agreements, and litigation settlement agreements? How do you recommend we revise those documents?

                                         —Revising Releases

Dear Revising,

Bradford Kelley, Sean O’Brien and Alice Wang discuss a new AI framework from the U.S. Department of Labor and what it means for employers. (Subscription required)

Law360

View (Subscription required)

Puerto Rico Governor Pedro R. Pierluisi recently issued back-to-back executive orders (EO) regarding COVID-19. It appears that the third EO was stuck in holiday traffic. This latest EO, like her sisters, amends November’s EO-2021-075 to curtail COVID-19 infections.

Anabel Rodríguez-Alonso and José L. Maymí-González examine Puerto Rico’s new back-to-back executive orders regarding COVID-19.

SHRM Online

View (Subscription required.)

Jim Paretti says two U.S. Supreme Court rulings on discrimination law that changed how employers evaluate religious accommodation requests and ended affirmative action in higher education will affect employers for years to come.

Law360 Employment Authority

View (Subscription required.)

Tyler Sims discusses the potential wage-and-hour implications of Dartmouth College’s men’s basketball team voting to form what may become the NCAA’s first-ever athlete labor union.

HR Dive

View (Subscription required.)

Alka Ramchandani-Raj talks to employers about OSHA-recommended accommodations when altering employees’ working hours due to heat-related conditions.

CNN

View

As part of the Obama administration's commitment to accountability in spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the federal Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) will be tracking its ARRA-related and non-ARRA-related enforcement activities separately and aggressively auditing recipients of ARRA funds.

On July 7, 2009, OFCCP released a new directive that explains the different procedures that will apply in scheduling and conducting compliance evaluations for ARRA-funded contractors versus other federal contractors.