Sara Olabarría explains how courts determine whether stress is the cause of a work accident. 

El País

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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.

Stephen T. Melnick discusses the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA)’s revised workers’ compensation notice for employees, which Massachusetts employers will start using Sept. 16, 2024.

SHRM

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Golf is one of the most significant informal business networks and approximately half of all women feel like their exclusion from these gateways is among the key challenges to reaching the highest echelons of corporate leadership. As a prelude to the 2022 edition of the “Masters Season,” Littler Principal Cindy-Ann Thomas explores how enduring barriers in recreational golf impact meaningful access and equity gains for women in corporate America.

In this episode, Jasper Hoffstedde and Dennis Veldhuizen shed light on the works council’s purpose and added value in the decision-making process. For U.S.-based listeners, Dennis’ quick side-by-side comparison of union vs works council rights may be of interest. Furthermore, all of the basics are explained:

Labor force participation is falling, the skills gap is widening, and certain industries are struggling to recover post-pandemic. In this podcast, Michael Lotito, co-chair of Littler Workplace Policy Institute (WPI) and Shannon Meade, executive director of WPI, discuss the historic transformation of the American workforce and what needs to be done on a national level to address the challenges employers and employees are facing.
 

In this How to Do Business in the Americas podcast series installment, Littler attorneys Lori Brown, Jorge Sales Boyoli and Juan Carlos Varela discuss relevant labor and employment issues employers will face in the Americas in 2023.

Topics include managing “wandering workers,” making staffing decisions in this period of economic uncertainty, and addressing the impact of labor law reform and union activism in multiple countries, among other issues multinational employers can anticipate at this post-pandemic stage.
 

In this How to Do Business in the Americas podcast series installment, Shareholder Juan Carlos Varela and Rodrigo Tajonar, Chief People Officer of the Boston Globe Media, discuss how organizations are dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic in the workplace.
 

On August 7, 2024, the City of Los Angeles unveiled its “Model Contract” under the Freelance Workers Protections Ordinance (FWPO). This ordinance, which took effect on July 1, 2023, was designed to bolster protections for freelance workers in Los Angeles.

Ensure Compliance with California Labor Code Section 2775 et seq.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill on September 4, 2024 that requires retail employers to develop and implement workplace violence prevention training and policies, among other measures.  The law becomes effective 180 days after her signature, or March 3, 2025.

On April 11, 2022, Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022 (Bill 88), received Royal Assent and became law. Among other things, Bill 88 enacted the new Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, 2022 (DPWRA).¹ The DWPRA did not come into force upon its enactment. 

On August 26, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland decided in Teamsters Local Union No. 355 v. Total Distribution Services, Inc., that the Maryland Economic Stabilization Act (“Maryland WARN Act” or “Act”) does not provide individuals with the right to file suit in their personal capacity to enforce a legal claim under the Act. The Maryland WARN Act still may be enforced by the Maryland Department of Labor.  The Act is based, in part, on its federal counterpart, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, with important differences. 

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.

On September 24, 2024, the U.S.

Ole Kristian Olsby and Nina Elisabeth Thjømøe explain the regulations around gender equality and discrimination in the workplace.

International Law Office (ILO)

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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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Erin Webber and Zoe Argento discuss the effect the pandemic has had on working mothers and the impact on women in the workforce generally.
 

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

An effective way to increase diversity hiring is to require diverse candidate slates for interviewing. Such slates include at least two diverse or women candidates in the pool of finalists. Employers should take heed, however, because there are limits to which a recruiter or a staffing agency can go in building such a slate. Alyesha Dotson discusses the avenues to intentionally recruit for diversity in a fair and smart manner to avoid violating antidiscrimination laws.
  

Racially offensive symbols, such as Confederate flags, displayed in the workplace can constitute evidence of a racially hostile work environment. In light of this and our ever-increasing efforts to foster harassment-free workplaces, Alyesha Asghar Dotson discusses how employers can prepare for and respond when potentially offensive symbols appear in their workplace.
  

Teresa Trigueros discusses workplace harassment and its protocols.

Confilegal

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Laura Jousselin, Raoul Parekh and Stephan Swinkels discuss how European employers are responding to workplace changes, including AI and remote workplace demands from employees.

International Employment Lawyer

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The current administration and multiple members of Congress seek to grant protections to H-2B non-agricultural temporary workers who are employed in the United States to fill temporary labor shortages in the U.S. market. Multiple bills have been introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives calling for protection against exploitation and abuse, including for employer violations of wage and hour laws and retaliation.

Johane Severin discusses the growing practice of “stay-or-pay” contracts, which some argue force workers to pay if they resign ahead of a stipulated date.

International Employment Lawyer

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Alexander MacDonald weighs in on the effects of U.S. DOL regulations that seek to expand organizing protections for farmworkers on temporary visas.

Bloomberg Law

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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.    

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

On June 20, 2024, USCIS extended the validity of certain work permits issued to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries under the TPS designations for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan. All impacted beneficiaries will receive Form I-797, Notice of Action, notifying them of the extension of their Employment Authorization Documents (EADs or “work permits”) through March 9, 2025.

Alex MacDonald discusses how a new study reveals how some union practices prioritize maintaining their political influence over delivering benefits.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

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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

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Michael Lotito says captive audience meeting bans passed by more than half a dozen states are “intrusive” and “against fundamental First Amendment principles.”

Bloomberg Law

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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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Earlier this month, President Biden released his COVID-19 Action Plan, Path Out of the Pandemic (Plan) with the stated goal of getting more people vaccinated.¹ As part of the Plan, President Biden signed Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (Order).

On September 9, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (“Order”), which directed the executive agencies to begin amending federal contracts to require federal contractors to take specific actions to combat COVID-19 and to, in turn, require covered subcontractors to take the same actions (the federal contractor COVID-19 workplace

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.

Kerry Notestine, Chad Kaldor, Shawn Matthew Clark and Garrick Josephs discuss a court’s decision that the Maryland WARN Act does not give individuals the right to file suit in their personal capacity to enforce a legal claim under the Act.

Wolters Kluwer

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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

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Stephen T. Melnick talks about a new bill that proposes to give a tax credit to businesses in Massachusetts that join a pilot program to explore the possible benefits of a shorter workweek.

WorldatWork

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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.

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

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Michael Lotito and Bruce Sarchet share their thoughts on SB 93, a new California law that requires some employers in the hospitality industry to prioritize recalling workers who were laid off due to COVID-19.

SHRM Online

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Jorge Sales Boyoli answers questions about whether mandates requiring employees to get vaccinated are legal under Mexico’s labor laws.

Entrepreneur

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Libby Henninger offers tips for employers paying disabled workers lower wages.

Law360 Employment Authority

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