As many employers are on the way to normalizing their business practices and re-engaging their employees, they should not overlook the many potential pitfalls in the administration of their retirement, health and welfare plans and their executive compensation arrangements. The risks of missteps are high, and include loss of tax-qualification of retirement plans, penalty taxes in connection with the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer mandate rules, other IRS penalties, employee lawsuits and Department of Labor enforcement actions.

USCIS has officially announced the dates for the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H-1B cap lottery, which will open on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at noon ET and end on Friday, March 22, 2024, at noon ET. This annual lottery is meant to select new H-1B candidates, who will be eligible to file an H-1B petition and, if approved, begin H-1B employment on October 1, 2024 (the first day of FY 2025).

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.

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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.

Alexander MacDonald says that in the wake of Chevron, existing regulations will not be thrown out, but there will be closer scrutiny over regulations, and there may be fewer of them to come.

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The Connecticut Supreme Court recently adopted the U.S. Supreme Court's relatively narrow definition of “supervisor” for use in determining when employers are liable under the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act (CFEPA) for creating or failing to remedy a hostile work environment. The decision provides employers with clarity as the term is not defined by the CFEPA.

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 

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In November 2023, soon after Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed amendments to the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act (the “Act”), several staffing agencies and associations sued for an injunction against enforcement of certain provisions of the Act.  In Staffing Services Association of Illinois v. Flanagan, Case No. 23-CV-16208, these parties claimed that Sections 11, 42, and 67 of the Act were preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the due process clauses of the U.S.

Oregon’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (“Paid Leave Oregon”) generally provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of paid time off for leave that qualifies as family, medical, or safe leave. Since Paid Leave Oregon took effect on September 3, 2023, employees have been stacking Paid Leave Oregon leave benefits and Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) leave benefits, leaving employers frustrated with staffing shortages.

Sarah Bryan Fask says a long-awaited final rule from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. describing interest rate assumption requirements for employers who pull out of multiemployer pension plans would be “very significant.”

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Ellen Donovan McCann says post-employment benefits are often the first to be amended when businesses experience budget challenges, but employers may have to take more care in changing them if SCOTUS decides that former employees can sue over those benefits.

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Raoul Parekh and Natasha Adom write in support of updating laws to help give employers more freedom to create the real change that so many want and promote more diversity and equality in workplaces.

The Law Society Gazette

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On June 1, 2023, in United States ex rel.

On October 1, 2024, Maryland’s Pay Stub/Pay Statement and Pay Transparency laws went into effect. The laws were passed during the General Assembly’s 2024 legislative session and amended the state’s Wage Payment and Collection Law and Equal Pay for Equal Work law, respectively.

Pay Stub/Pay Statement Law Requirements

Marshall v. Mercantile Exchange Corporation, 2024 CanLII 71128  (ONSC), is an action for wrongful dismissal where the employee claimed he could not mitigate his damages by seeking alternative employment indefinitely because of a mental health condition (i.e., stress and depression) allegedly arising out of his termination. He claimed a 26-month notice period. The employer sought an independent medical examination (IME) of the employee pursuant to s.

The United States is not the only country currently debating reform to the law on non-competes. Notably, the UK Government has announced legislation that would limit the duration of non-competes to a period of three months after the termination of employment.

The United States is not the only country currently debating a reform to the law on non-competes. Notably, the UK Government has announced legislation that would limit the duration of non-competes to a period of 3 months after termination of employment.

The Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA) prohibits employers from discriminating against applicants and employees on the basis of their arrest and conviction records.¹  Generally, an employer cannot make decisions on the basis of an arrest or conviction record unless the crimes “substantially relate” to the circumstances of the job at issue.²  For many years, the state agencies responsible for enforcing this law—the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and the Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC)—have taken the view that crimes of domestic violen

Two new laws will take effect next year that restrict how employers may respond to worker off-duty cannabis use.  One law will restrict employers’ ability to ask about prior cannabis use in the hiring process, and the other will limit employer actions based on positive marijuana drug tests.

Employers with operations in California are all too familiar with how state and local officials continue to restrict the access employers have to public records, including criminal history information.¹ For example, lengthy delays in completing standard criminal background checks are now routine in California.² Apart from criminal background checks, many employers rely on motor vehicle record checks (MVRs) to vet candidates for positions that require driving as part of the job.  In Doe v. California Dept.

On November 10, 2021, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2021-45, which contains its annual inflation adjustments for over 60 tax provisions, including not only individual income tax rates and deductions, but also many employer-provided benefits.

We recently reported on the saga that followed the Constitutional Court's ruling of February 8, 2024 on the conditions for applying the partial exemption from payment of withholding tax for employers organizing shift work (CIR/92, art. 275/5). 

The ruling of February 8, 2024, had given rise to fears among many employers whose successive shifts fluctuate in size that they would simply lose the tax advantage, which can represent a reduction of 10 to 15% in the wage costs associated with shift workers. 

The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (Department) just announced the 2025 weekly benefit amount and contribution rates for both employers and employees under the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave benefit program, which is funded through a payroll tax.

Adam Fiss and Sebastian Chilco review updates to California’s paid leave law.

Wolters Kluwer

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Adam Joshua Fiss and Sebastian Chilco discuss a new California law that will eliminate employers’ ability to require employees to use up to two weeks of company-provided vacation before they start receiving paid family leave benefits.

SHRM

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On April 4, 2022, in Fraser Health Authority v British Columbia General Employees’ Union, 2022 CanLII 25560, Arbitrator Koml Kandola of the British Columbia Labour Relations Board dismissed the union’s grievance respecting the dismissal of the grievor because she was ineligible to work under the order issued b

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recently issued new guidance regarding name, image, and likeness (NIL) endorsement deals with college athletes. The NCAA’s most recent guidance aims to provide clarity on NIL rules and is important for all businesses entering NIL deals with collegiate athletes, as well as colleges and universities subject to NCAA rules.   

The NCAA’s Past Guidance

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced that it is clarifying the validity period of off-campus employment authorization for international students pursuant to the Special Student Relief (SSR) package.

Governor Ron DeSantis has signed Senate Bill (SB) 266, officially prohibiting the state’s public colleges and universities from spending state or federal money on programs or campus activities that advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).  The legislation aims to replace “niche subjects” like Critical Race Theory (CRT) and gender studies with “more employable majors,” according to the governor.  The law would also restrict public colleges from providing initiatives like anti-bias, DEI, and cultural competence training for educators, staff members, and students.

Rhonda B. Levy and Monty Verlint explain Ontario's Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023.

SHRM Online

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On November 24, 2022, Bill 41 – 2022: Workers Compensation Amendment Act (No. 2), 2022 (Bill 41), which introduced changes to British Columbia’s Workers Compensation Act, received Royal Assent. Effective January 1, 2024, Bill 41 imposes certain duties on employers and employees following a workplace injury.

Maryland’s Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) Division of Labor and Industry recently announced its publication of the Heat Illness Prevention Standard as a final regulation in the September 20, 2024, edition of the Maryland Register. Effective September 30, 2024, the final regulation—which creates obligations for Maryland employers to protect their employees against heat hazards—will be published in the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) under chapter 09.12.32 Heat Stress Standards.

As prosecutors and states have ramped up the criminal prosecution of wage theft and other employment law violations, Jacqueline Kalk explains why this isn’t always necessary.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Aki Tanaka talks about how the monthly average working hour per employee went down in Japan after the country started implementing a law limiting overtime in 2018.

SHRM Online

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New York is postponing its AI bias law’s effective date, and Eli Freedberg says there really was no way that companies could have gotten compliant in time because of all the uncertainty still surrounding the law.

Law360 Employment Authority

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 12, 2024) – Littler shareholder Tyler A. Sims testified today before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce at a joint hearing of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development and the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions on “Safeguarding Student-Athletes from NLRB Misclassification.”

Update: On August 2, 2024, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed SB 2979 into law, reforming the liability guidelines under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

CHICAGO (April 11, 2024) – Today, the Illinois Senate passed SB 2979, which would reform the liability guidelines under the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The bill marks an important milestone in the broader effort to resolve BIPA’s vague statutory language and courts’ expansive interpretations of the law, which have posed a threat to businesses that capture biometric information.

SAN FRANCISCO (October 7, 2024) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, is pleased to announce the addition of Amit Shah as the firm’s Chief Digital Innovation Officer (CDIO). He joins Littler from Excelitas Technologies, where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Information Technology.

NEW YORK (October 9, 2024) – Littler attorney Michael Paglialonga testified before the New York City Council’s Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection today on behalf of Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute^® (WPI^®), the firm’s government relations and public policy arm.