Workforce Bulletin

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, we’re highlighting the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB’s) crackdown on confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions in severance agreements, a U.S. Supreme Court decision opening overtime to high-earning daily-rate workers, and a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decision in favor of mandatory arbitration in California.

Amendments to the pending New York State law requiring employers to advertise salary ranges were signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul on March 3, 2023.  The salary transparency law with the amendments (which we previously summarized here) will become effective on September 17, 2023.

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, we’re mapping out how Local Law 144 applies to every employer with employees in New York City using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, or a similar computational process to screen candidates for employment or employees for promotion within the city.

As we previously reported, the US Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) announced back in August 2022, that it had received a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request from the Center for Investigative Reporting (“CIR”), for any and all Type 2 Consolidated EEO-1 Reports for 2016-2020 (“Consolidated Reports”) filed by federal contractors (“Covered Contractors”).  In response to the request, OFCCP has provided Covered Contractors with the opportunity to object to the release of the Reports and on February 15 extended the deadline for objections to March 3, 2023.  

On February 21, 2023, the Seattle City Council passed a first of its kind ordinance that amends Seattle’s existing anti-discrimination laws to prohibit caste discrimination. The ordinance, CB 120511, prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals based on caste with respect to “hiring, tenure, promotion, terms, conditions, wages or privileges of employment, or with respect to any matter related to employment.” The amendment also bans discrimination based on caste with respect to public accommodations. Seattle employers should take note of the new amendment and update their policies to include caste as a protected category.

On February 13, 2023, the New York State Legislature approved an amendment, S1326 (the “Amendment”), to the upcoming New York State Pay Transparency Law S9427A (the “Law”), clarifying that the Law’s requirement that employers to disclose a minimum and maximum salary range in advertisements and postings for job opportunities applies, with limited exception, to remote positions. In addition, the Amendment would also eliminate one of the Law’s recordkeeping obligations and define the term “advertisement.” If signed by the Governor, as is expected, the Amendment will be part of the Law when it takes effect this Fall.

The California Office of Administrative Law has approved the California Division of Occupational Health and Safety’s (Cal/OSHA) COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations (Non-Emergency Regulations). As a result, on February 3, 2023, Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) expired, and the Non-Emergency Regulations went into effect.

Although extending many of the ETS requirements, as we previously reported, the Non-Emergency Regulations contain some notable changes. A redline comparing the Non-Emergency Regulations to the ETS is available here. Some important changes include:

More than a decade ago, Epstein Becker Green (EBG) created its complimentary Wage & Hour Guide for Employers app, putting federal, state, and local wage-hour laws at employers’ fingertips.

The app provides important information about overtime exemptions, minimum wages, overtime, meal periods, rest periods, on-call time, travel time, and tips that employers can use to remain compliant with the law—and, hopefully, to avoid class action, representative action, and collective action lawsuits and government investigations. 

As the laws have changed over the years, so, too, has EBG’s free wage-hour app, which is updated regularly to reflect those developments.

On February 2, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court filed an opinion in Jorome Tims v. Black Horse Carriers, Inc., holding that Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) is subject to a single, five-year statute of limitations period.

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, we bring you our special Spilling Secrets podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law:

On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposed rule that would ban employers from using non-compete clauses.

Panelists Peter A. Steinmeyer and Erik W. Weibust and featured guest attorney Stuart M. Gerson discuss the proposed rule and next steps for employers.