On October 30, 2023, President Biden issued a wide-ranging Executive Order to address the development of artificial intelligence (“AI”) in the U.S. Entitled the Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, the Order seeks to address both the “myriad benefits” as well as what it calls the “substantial risks” that AI poses to the country. It caps off a busy year for the Executive Branch in the AI space. In February the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published its Strategic Enforcement Plan highlighted AI as a chief concern and in April the White House released an AI Bill of Rights. Through the Order, described as a “Federal Government-wide” effort, the administration charges a number of federal agencies, including most notably, the Department of Labor, with addressing the impacts of employers’ use of AI on job security and workers’ rights.
Continue Reading Biden’s AI Order and the Implications for Employers

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to coordinate investigations and enforcement actions between the two agencies. The MOU is the latest step by OSHA to blur the lines between workplace safety law and labor law, and could result in more workplace citations from OSHA or unfair labor practice charges filed with the NLRB.
Continue Reading NLRB and OSHA to Enhance Enforcement Cooperation

On May 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) launched a new National Emphasis Program (“NEP”) to prevent or otherwise reduce workplace falls (the “Fall NEP”). 
Continue Reading OSHA Launches New National Emphasis Program Focused on Preventing Workplace Falls

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is finally poised to implement a permanent COVID-19 safety standard for healthcare employers, nearly three years after the pandemic first began in the United States.
Continue Reading Better Late Than Never – OSHA Is Finalizing COVID Rules Nearly Three Years into the Pandemic

California COVID-19 safety rules are here to stay.

The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted on December 15 to enact a new COVID-19 prevention regulation that imposes a number of familiar workplace safety requirements on California employers.  The regulations will become effective in mid-January 2023 after a 30-day review period and remain in effect for at least two years. Continue Reading New Regulation Extends CalOSHA COVID Enforcement into 2025 and Beyond