A recent opinion out of the Texas 14th Court of Appeals has raised the bar for employers trying to enforce arbitration agreements electronically signed by employees. See Houston ANUSA, LLC d/b/a AutoNation USA Houston v. Shattenkirk, No. 14-20-00446-CV, 2023 WL 5437714 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Aug. 24, 2023, no pet. h.).
Continue Reading Employee E-Signatures in Arbitration Agreements Under Scrutiny
On August 25, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced an updated Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing that places a more onerous information disclosure burden on federal contractors in responding to a Supply and Service compliance audit. In particular the updated Scheduling Letter, OMB No. 1250-0003, now requires federal contractors to produce more documentation for a variety of Items and increases both the scope and breadth of requested compensation data.
Continue Reading New OFCCP Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing Increases Burden on Federal Contractors
On June 14, 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 2127, the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act (“TRCA”), into law. Once the TRCA goes into effect on September 1, 2023, it will preclude all municipalities and counties in Texas from adopting or enforcing ordinances regulating conduct with respect to certain subject matters, including labor.
Continue Reading Texas Legislation Provides Employers Regulatory Uniformity
On August 25, 2023, in response to concerns regarding the timely implementation of SECURE 2.0’s Roth catch-up contribution requirement, the IRS issued Notice 2023-62, which provides that 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans now have until December 31, 2025 to comply.
Continue Reading SECURE 2.0 Act: Hip, Hip Delay! IRS Establishes a Two-Year Transition on the Roth Catch-Up Contribution Requirement
California employers: take notice. On July 24, 2023, the Office of Administrative Law approved changes to the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) regulations governing how California employers can use and consider criminal history in employment decisions. These new changes, modifying Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 2, § 11017.1, go into effect on October 1, 2023.
Continue Reading California Employers: Updated Regulations for Use of Criminal History in Hiring Decisions Go into Effect October 1, 2023
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently published a final rule titled “Pre-enforcement Notice and Conciliation Procedures.” This rule rescinds the evidentiary standards from the 2020 rule titled “Nondiscrimination Obligations of Federal Contractors and Subcontractors: Procedures to Resolve Potential Employment Discrimination,” which required specific pre-determination notice requirements and certain evidentiary standards. In a blog post, the OFCCP explains that the “new final rule restores flexibility to OFCCP’s pre-enforcement and conciliation procedures, promotes efficiency in resolving cases, strengthens enforcement and promotes alignment of the standards of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
Continue Reading OFCCP Publishes Final Rule on Pre-Determination Requirements and Conciliation
Although the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA” or the “Act”) has been in effect since June 27, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC” or the “Commission”) last week, published proposed rules regarding the enforcement of the Act. The PWFA has been covered in a previous blog post, but in short, the law requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation for pregnant employees, regardless of whether that pregnancy has resulted in a disability as was the case under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Continue Reading EEOC Belatedly Proposes Rules for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
Recently, in Restaurant Law Center, et al. v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas affirmed the validity of a new Department of Labor (DOL) rule, known as the “80-20-30” or “dual jobs” rule, which limits the ability of employers to satisfy a portion of tipped employees’ wages with earned tips.
Continue Reading Texas Federal Court Upholds DOL Rule Attacking FLSA Tip Credit
Federal contractors have had a flurry of headlines to keep up with over the last few months. Most prominent among them is the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council’s interim rule barring federal agencies and contractors from using TikTok or any other ByteDance product (the “Covered Applications”).
Continue Reading TikTok “Bytes” the Dust for Federal Contractors and Other Important Updates
A National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge dismissed the General Counsel’s allegation that the employer violated the National Labor Relations Act by not giving the union representing its employee notice and opportunity to bargain over the discharge of an employee it represented. Starbucks Corp., 02-CA-303077, et. al. (July 24, 2023). In doing so, the Administrative Law Judge teed up the issue for the Board to change the law on appeal. The law at issue is the Board’s prior precedent under Total Security Management Illinois 1, LLC, 364 NLRB 1532 (2016). The Board in Total Security created a new bargaining obligation which employers did not have prior to the case. Under Total Security, discretionary discipline is considered what is known as a “mandatory” subject of bargaining. Specifically, the Board held that prior to imposing serious discretionary discipline, such as a suspension or discharge, an employer must provide notice and opportunity to bargain with a union representing the employee at issue regarding what, if any, discipline to impose. Id. at 1536.
Continue Reading Get Your Bargaining Shoes On