OSHA recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing modification to the current rule to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, “ which requires employers to electronically submit their injury and illness records to OSHA.  
Continue Reading OSHA Issues Proposed Rule Regarding Electronic Submission Requirements

As we reported last December, the NLRB, in The Boeing Company, 365 NLRB No. 154 (2017), reversed its workplace rule standard under Lutheran Heritage. On June 6, 2018, NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb issued a guidance memorandum which sheds additional light on the Board’s new balancing test and three-category approach.
Continue Reading NLRB Issues Guidance Memorandum for Workplace Rules

The saga continues with regards to the status of a December 2017 NLRB decision that loosened restrictions on employer workplace rules.  As we reported, on December 14, 2017, the NLRB overruled the “reasonably construe” standard for evaluating the validity of employer work rules and replaced it with an evaluation that balances 1) the nature and extent of a rule’s impact on NLRA rights and 2) an employer’s legitimate justifications for the rule.  The new standard is widely-perceived as a victory for employers and indicated the newly-composed NLRB’s intent to revise the law in situations where the previous administration had stretched key legal principles too far, turning the “reasonably construe” standard into a “possibly construe” standard.
Continue Reading Uncertainty Looms Over NLRB’s Workplace Rules Decision

Recently, the NLRB created significant uncertainty as to the joint employer test under the NLRA when it vacated a December 2017 decision that resurrected the standard that existed prior to 2015. On May 9, 2018, the NLRB indicated that it is considering rulemaking to address the joint employer test under the NLRA.
Continue Reading NLRB To Consider Rulemaking For Joint Employer Test

Under a new DOL pilot program, employers can self-report wage violations and potentially avoid costly litigation.

Last week, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor launched a six-month pilot program to resolve FLSA violations.  Under the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program, employers may self-report potential overtime or minimum wage violations to the WHD, which will then resolve the matter by supervising payments to employees if the employees accept the settlement.
Continue Reading DOL Launches Pilot Program for Self-Reporting FLSA Violations

We have reported on several Board decisions issued by a new Republican majority in the final days of 2017, but questions remain as to what issues the Board will address next to scale back on Obama-era precedent.  In recent weeks, Republican Board Members have provided some hints in a pair of footnotes in two unpublished decisions.  
Continue Reading NLRB Members Drop Hints in Footnotes Regarding Potential Issues the Board will Revisit

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) seeking to repeal a 2011 rule that significantly impacted the compensation of hospitality workers. Specifically, the NPRM proposes to allow hospitality employers to control the distribution of the tips they pool assuming their employees are paid the full minimum wage.
Continue Reading Department of Labor Makes It Easier for Employees to Share Tips – Rolls Back Prior Restrictions

Hunton & Williams recently published an entry on its Retail Law Resource Blog regarding what employers can expect from Victoria Lipnic, the new acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and an EEOC Commissioner since 2010. Since that publication, Lipnic has made public comments as to what she envisions from the EEOC under her leadership.
Continue Reading Acting EEOC Chair Provides Insight Into Agency’s Future