On March 12, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed two separate district court decisions addressing how pizza delivery drivers should be reimbursed for their vehicle-related expenses under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Continue Reading Sixth Circuit Highlights The Difficulty of Calculating Work-Related Expenses Under the FLSA

On September 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries Park St. LLC, a case from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals involving application of the Federal Arbitration Act’s (“FAA”) exemption for transportation workers.
Continue Reading The Supreme Court To Further Clarify “Transportation Worker” Exemption to the FAA

On December 21, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed New York State’s pay transparency bill into law. Effective September 17, 2023, the new law will require employers to disclose the anticipated compensation range for any advertised job posting.
Continue Reading New York State Enacts Wage Transparency Law

On April 11, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel urged the Board to revive the long-abandoned Joy Silk doctrine, which has not been in effect in nearly 50 fifty years. 
Continue Reading NLRB General Counsel Urges The NLRB To Revive The Joy Silk Doctrine For Union Elections

On November 10, 2021, National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum outlining employers’ bargaining obligations with respect to compliance with OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard to Protect Workers from Coronavirus (“ETS”).
Continue Reading NLRB General Counsel Issues Memo Regarding Bargaining Obligations for Vaccine Mandate

On August 10, 2021, the Third Circuit in Travers v. Federal Express Corporation revived a class action lawsuit under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act of 1994 (“USERRA”), holding that employers must provide servicemembers with pay during military leave when employers pay employees on “comparable types of leave.”
Continue Reading The Third Circuit Opens The Door to Class Actions Seeking Paid Military Leave

On March 25, 2021, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed into law new protections for employees related to the medicinal use of cannabis oil.  Effective July 1, 2021, the newly enacted law will prohibit employers from disciplining, discharging, or discriminating against an employee for his or her lawful use of cannabis oil so long as the use is pursuant to a valid written certification issued by a health care practitioner for the treatment of the employee’s diagnosed condition or disease.
Continue Reading Virginia Enacts Employment Protections For Medical Use of Cannabis Oil

Last month, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York invalidated portions of the Department of Labor’s Final Rule on joint employment, holding that parts of the Final Rule conflicted with the statutory language of the FLSA and chiding the DOL for failing to adequately explain why the Final Rule departed from the DOL’s own prior interpretations.
Continue Reading Court Invalidates DOL’s Final Rule On Joint Employment Under The FLSA

On August 3, 2020, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York struck down portions of the DOL’s Final Rule regarding who qualifies for COVID-19 emergency paid sick leave under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act, collectively referred to at the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Of particular importance to employers, the Court invalidated two provisions of the DOL’s Final Rule pertaining to: (1) conditioning leave on the availability of work and (2) the need to obtain employer consent prior to taking leave on an intermittent basis.
Continue Reading Federal Court Strikes Down Portions of Department of Labor’s Final Rule On COVID-19 Leave, Expands Coverage