George Vassos says arbitrators have largely favored employers’ vaccination policies, but employers don’t have carte blanche. 

Benefits Canada

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On May 11, 2023, Canada passed An Act to enact Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff (the “Act”). As we reported previously, the Act will create supply chain transparency and reporting obligations for certain companies as part of Canada’s efforts to fight against forced labour and child labour in Canadian supply chains.

On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, the EU member states in the EU Parliament voted in favor of the European Supply Chain Directive (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive – CSDDD). This is one of the final steps in a long legislative process. The vote had been delayed several times at the beginning of the year because some EU member states—including Germany—had announced that they would vote against the directive. The planned liability regime of the directive was a particular point of contention.

Content and scope

Natalie Pierce, co-chair of Littler's Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Automation practice group, and Debra Kadner, machine learning expert and cofounder of Eskalera, discuss the framework for helping employers build their workforces for the future.
 

Effective January 1, 2019, California SB 1343 greatly expanded Golden State employers' anti-harassment training requirements. The law not only extends coverage to employers with more than five employees, but it also mandates that employers provide anti-harassment training to all employees – not just supervisors – every two years. But what if an employer provided this training in 2018? Can the next training cycle wait until 2020? No, according to recent guidance from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH).

Alyesha Asghar discusses the potential impact for employers after the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Title VII in Muldrow v. St Louis.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Jeff Nowak says this case will test when workers can take federal job-protected leave prior to a baby’s arrival and won’t drastically change life as we know it because employers are overwhelmingly supportive of their employees’ FMLA rights.

Bloomberg Law

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The Governor of Nevada recently signed into law Senate Bill 386, which is Nevada’s version of the trending “return to work” or “right to recall” laws being passed in other jurisdictions throughout the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  These laws typically require that employees who were laid off due to the pandemic be given priority to be offered their former jobs before external candidates are considered.  Nevada’s law, the Nevada Hospitality and Travel Workers Right to Return Act (“the Act”), does not apply to all businesses, but generally to such businesses that were most a

In a recent case issued by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico (“the Court”), the Court addressed the standard and level of proof that must be presented by employers when raising as an affirmative defense a corporate reorganization. In Segarra Rivera vs. International Shipping Agency, 2022 T.S.P.R. 33, 208 D.P.R. ____ (Mar.

Deemed IDEL No Longer Available

In Pham v.

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.

Lisa (Lee) Schreter weighs in on employers paying employees in cryptocurrencies and the legal questions that may raise.

Bloomberg Law

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Sebastian Chilco and Wendy Buckingham discuss a new San Francisco law that aims to increase income and employment security for private-sector employees when they perform military service.

SHRM Online

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While significant bills impacting Connecticut employers were signed into law, proposed employer mandates on pay transparency, paid sick leave, and predictive scheduling failed to gain the necessary votes for passage in 2023. Here are some of the year’s notable legislative developments.

What Passed . . .

Effective October 1, 2023, unless otherwise noted:

James A. Paretti Jr. says the DOL’s new overtime rule is likely to face a legal challenge, so employers should start reviewing their workforces but stop short of implementing changes right away.

Law360 Employment Authority

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The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Second Circuit’s decision in Laurent v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which held that retirees could receive money damages in the form of recalculated benefits in a class action over how the company’s cash balance pension plan calculated lump-sum benefits.

This podcast episode is dedicated to unraveling the complexities of filing an H-1B petition and remaining compliant following an approval.

The H-1B visa program is known for its competitiveness, intricate regulations, and fact-specific nature. Whether you're an employer looking to hire and maintain foreign talent or an H-1B applicant, our podcast explores the common pitfalls and crucial considerations you need to be aware of regarding the H-1B process.

Since the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University and the University of North Carolina on June 29, 2023, striking down race-conscious admission processes in higher education, it has sent shock waves throughout the corporate community as business leaders consider the decision’s potential impact on their own diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Littler Principal Cindy-Ann Thomas and her guest, Littler Shareholder Kim Carter, explore:

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.

Jeff Nowak says it is better for companies to add flexibility to employees’ existing leave, rather than create standalone categories and risk creating an atmosphere of exclusion for some employees with different life situations.

SHRM Online

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Jeff Nowak says it may be better for companies to add flexibility to existing leave of absence and disability accommodations for employees, rather than create standalone categories.

SHRM

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If you have employees working in Oregon, chances are you have heard about Oregon’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program also known as Paid Leave Oregon (“PLO”). In addition to PLO, eligible Oregon employees may be entitled to leave under the Oregon Family Medical Leave Act (“OFLA”), Oregon Sick Time law (“OSTL”), and the federal Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).

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%

Lisa Shevlin and Cristin Casey review Oregon’s leave laws and offer some suggested strategies to help employers maintain compliance.

SHRM

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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 

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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.
  

Littler Principal Cindy-Ann Thomas and her special guest, Pranam Lipinsk, a dedicated scholar of Generation Z and co-founder of Door of Clubs, delve into the (unofficial) rule book for attracting and retaining these young professionals. They will:

Kimberly Doud of Littler’s Orlando office, Chelsea Lewis of Littler's Miami office, and Kameron Miller of Littler's Charleston office present episode one of the Allied Behavior podcast series. Allied Behavior is focused on cultivating conscious conversations about inclusion, equity, diversity, and allyship in a corporate environment. In this episode, Kimberly, Chelsea, and Kameron discuss the importance of effective allyship and provide suggestions to turn allyship into meaningful action in the workplace.