Workforce Bulletin

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released proposed guidance on workplace harassment prohibited under federal law. The new guidance, posted on September 29, 2023, is available for public review and commentary until November 1, 2023. If finalized, this guidance will supersede five longstanding guidance documents issued from 1987 through 1999. In other words, this is the first proposed EEOC guidance on harassment in the past 25 years.

The Context

An agency press release notes that the EEOC last attempted to update its workplace harassment guidance ...

On March 3, 2021, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio issued Executive Order No. 64 (“EO”), which, effective immediately, imposes new sexual harassment reporting requirements on “human services” providers who contract with the City.  The EO requires the Department of Investigation (“DOI”) to review information about sexual harassment complaints and provide its findings to any City agency that contracts with the disclosing provider.

“Human services” is defined by the relevant section of the Administrative Code to include “day care, foster care, home care ...

The final installment of a 10-part series featuring our video Rules of the Road: Return to Work in the Time of COVID-19.

Did COVID-19 end sexual harassment?

Did a global pandemic that sent humanity indoors, forcing many of us to work remotely (if at all) and to be socially distant while avoiding handshakes and touching obviate the need for such an obvious rule?  Well, not exactly.  I have been advising clients on this rule and the ripe environment for harassment claims since the pandemic began, and in candor, my position has been met with varying degrees of skepticism (yes, you can still see ...

Although cannabis (marijuana) remains an illegal substance under federal law, companies in the cannabis industry are not exempt from complying with federal laws in general. A recent flurry of complaints filed in federal courts and with federal administrative agencies have highlighted the obligation of companies in the cannabis industry to comply with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (the “ADEA”), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”). These employers must also remain compliant ...

The first legal challenge to Executive Order 13950 (the “Order”) has been made. On October 29, 2020, the NAACP, representing the National Urban League, and the National Fair Housing Alliance, filed a civil rights class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Case No. 1:20-cv-03121), requesting injunctive and declaratory relief against the President of the United States, the U.S. Secretary of Labor and the U.S. Department of Labor. Specifically, the lawsuit seeks for the Court to strike down the Order, declaring it unlawful and invalid ...

Part 4 of a series featuring our video Rules of the Road: Return to Work in the Time of COVID-19.

We have said this before, but we will say it again: in the workplace, there should be no touching – ever. The COVID-19 pandemic just provides another reason to follow the advice we give in the anti-harassment context, that employees should maintain distance and not touch others.

No Touching, Ever – Not Even For Handshakes

In almost a long forgotten time, pre-COVID-19, it was a natural tendency for employees to use handshakes, handshakes-plus, and hugs as a way to build rapport and ...

Earlier this summer, we reported on ground-breaking legislation in New Jersey that requires hotels with more than 100 guest rooms to supply hotel employees assigned to work in a guest room alone with a free panic button device and to adhere to a specific protocol upon activation of a panic button device by a hotel employee.  In what may signal the start of a national trend, Illinois just became the second state to pass similar legislation targeting not only hotels but also casinos located within its jurisdiction.

Under the newly created Hotel and Casino Employee Safety Act (Article 5 of ...

Hospitality remains at the forefront of demanding industries where employers must be ever vigilant in their efforts to ensure full compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations. We highlight below five new or upcoming areas on which employers should focus.

– Jeffrey H. Ruzal

Hospitality Employers May Soon Face a Compliance Challenge: The New Proposed DOL Salary Threshold for “White Collar” Exemptions

Michael S. Kun

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has proposed a new rule that would increase the salary threshold for most “white collar” ...