Workforce Bulletin

The new episode of Employment Law This Week offers a year-end roundup of the biggest employment, workforce, and management issues in 2016:

• Impact of the Defend Trade Secrets Act
• States Called to Ban Non-Compete Agreements
• Paid Sick Leave Laws Expand
• Transgender Employment Law
• Uncertainty Over the DOL’s Overtime Rule and Salary Thresholds
• NLRB Addresses Joint Employment
• NLRB Rules on Union Organizing

Watch the episode below and read EBG’s Take 5 newsletter, "Top Five Employment, Labor & Workforce Management Issues of 2016."

Featured on Employment Law This Week: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a final rule for handling retaliation under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The ACA prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for receiving Marketplace financial assistance when purchasing health insurance through an Exchange. The ACA also protects employees from retaliation for raising concerns regarding conduct that they believe violates the consumer protections and health insurance reforms in the ACA. OSHA’s new final rule establishes procedures ...

Featured on Employment Law This Week: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit may consider ruling that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) protects sexual orientation.

On its face, Title VII prohibits discrimination only on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and courts have been unwilling to go further. In this case, the Seventh Circuit has granted a college professor’s petition for an en banc rehearing and vacated a panel ruling that sexual orientation isn’t covered. Also, an advertising executive who is suing his former agency ...

Featured on Employment Law This Week® -  Pokémon Go creates privacy concerns for employers.

The first mainstream augmented reality game is sweeping the nation, and the game never stops, even during work hours. Despite a recent update to the game that reduces its access to players’ Google accounts, Pokémon Go’s data collection practices are under fire from privacy advocates. The Electronic Privacy Information Center has joined the fray, calling for the FTC to investigate security risks associated with the game. In light of the popularity of the game, employers should ...

The top story on Employment Law This Week: Casino trainees could be entitled to minimum wage.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently revived a class action suit from a group of trainees at a casino in Maryland. Applicants who wanted to work the casino's new table games were expected to attend a 12-week “dealer school,” during which they went mostly unpaid. Several of the trainees sued, alleging that the practice violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. Though the district court dismissed the case, the Fourth Circuit ruled that the company could be found to be the ...

The top story on Employment Law This Week - San Francisco and New York state break new ground on paid parental leave.

Starting in 2017, businesses with more than 50 employees in San Francisco will be required to give new parents six weeks off, fully paid. San Francisco is the first city in the U.S. to require full salary for new mothers and fathers during their time off. Meanwhile, New York state has passed the most comprehensive paid parental leave policy in the country. New York state’s legislation mandates 12 weeks of partially paid leave for all new parents by 2021.

View the ...

One of the featured stories on Employment Law This Week is the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) release of its highly anticipated final rule expanding and modifying the F-1 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Optional Practical Training (OPT) Program.

A 2015 district court case found procedural errors in the DHS’s program, putting the current employment and OPT extensions of thousands of foreign nationals in jeopardy. This new final rule is DHS’s response to the court’s decision. Among other changes, the new final rule extends the potential ...

A featured story on Employment Law This Week is the new legislation proposed in Congress that aims to clarify whistleblower policies.

The Whistleblower Augmented Reward and Non-Retaliation Act would expand protections for those who blow the whistle on financial crimes. The bill would also resolve a circuit court split on the definition of "whistleblower," expanding the scope of the term to specifically include employees who only report violations internally, without filing with the SEC or CFTC. The WARN Act aims to broaden monetary incentives for whistleblowers, and increase ...

The top story on Employment Law This Week is the EEOC's filing of its first sexual orientation bias suits.

Last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination against an individual for sexual orientation. The EEOC concluded that sexual orientation discrimination is a form of unlawful gender discrimination. This month, the agency filed two landmark federal lawsuits seeking to enforce its interpretation of the statute for the first time. The agency is suing on behalf of workers at a company in Baltimore and ...

A featured story on Employment Law This Week is the Ninth Circuit's backing of the Department of Labor's rule on "tip pooling."

In 2011, the Department of Labor issued a rule that barred restaurant and hospitality employers from including kitchen staff in “tip pools,” which are sometimes used to meet an employer’s minimum wage requirements. The DOL ruled that kitchen staff should be excluded from pools even if the tips are not required to meet minimum wage obligations. Two district court decisions held that the department does not have the authority to regulate this ...

The top story on Employment Law This Week is the EEOC's announcement of new nationwide disclosure rules for position statements.

Retroactive to January 1, 2016, employers should expect the disclosure of their position statements to the charging party, even if the statement contains confidential information. Under the new policy, complainants have the right to request access to the statement and respond to it, but any response from the charging party will not be disclosed to the employer in turn. Lauri Rasnick, a Member of the Firm at Epstein Becker Green, has more on what this ...

The top story on Employment Law This Week is the EEOC's release of fiscal year 2015 enforcement data.

Retaliation claims were once again the number one type of charge filed, up 5% from last year for a total of 44.5% of all charges. Race claims were second, making up 34.7% of claims. 30.2% of charges alleged disability discrimination, up 6% from last year. Ronald M. Green from Epstein Becker Green (EBG) gives more detail on what’s behind the numbers.

View the episode below or read recent comments about the EEOC's release, from David W. Garland of EBG.

One of the featured stories on Employment Law This Week – Epstein Becker Green’s new video program – is the Eleventh Circuit decision limiting the supervisory misconduct defense against OSHA citations.

At a construction worksite, a supervisor and his subordinate from Quinlan Enterprises were found working on a 15 foot wall without fall protection or a secure ladder. The company was held responsible for the OSHA violation, because, in most cases, a supervisor’s knowledge of a violation is imputed to the employer. Quinlan appealed citing the Eleventh Circuit’s Comtran ...

One of the featured stories on Employment Law This Week – Epstein Becker Green’s new video program – is that in a year when OSHA penalties are already set to increase, a new enforcement initiative is putting pressure on companies to make sure they’re compliant.

The Department of Justice and the Department of Labor have teamed up to encourage federal prosecutors to pursue OSHA and other worker safety violations as environmental crimes. These crimes can be charged as felonies, while OSHA violations are considered misdemeanors. The initiative will facilitate the sharing of ...

Employment Law This Week – Epstein Becker Green’s new video program – has a story about an effort to unite retailers against a restrictive scheduling law in Washington, D.C.

The National Retail Federation issued a letter urging the city council in D.C. to abandon new scheduling legislation for retailers and restaurants. The proposed law would require businesses to post schedules three weeks in advance, with heavy penalties if they make any changes to the posted schedule. The NRF argues that this legislation removes the benefit of flexibility for employees, and that it ...

One of the featured stories on Employment Law This Week – Epstein Becker Green’s new video program – is the SEC reminder that their bounty program applies to external whistleblowers.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has awarded $700,000 to a whistleblower who was not employed by the company he exposed. The external whistleblower discovered the issue when he ran a detailed analysis on the company. The agency explained that analysis from “industry experts” is as valuable as insider information. The whistleblower program began after the Dodd-Frank Act was ...

One of the featured stories on Employment Law This Week – Epstein Becker Green’s new video program – is Dollar Tree's $825,000 fine for OSHA violations.

Retail store Dollar Tree has agreed to a hefty fine as well as continual monitoring of its stores across the US. A third-party monitor will conduct audits on 50 stores over the next two years. This settles a wide range of complaints arising from 13 different OSHA inspections. The agency is increasingly using this tactic of issuing repeat citations for the same violations at different company worksites. This could have a much bigger ...

As we mentioned before the holiday, I was recently interviewed on our firm’s new video program, Employment Law This Week.  The show has now released “bonus footage” from that episode – see below.

I elaborate on my recent post with Jason Kaufman, “2nd Circuit Expands Dodd-Frank Anti-Retaliation Protection to Cover Internal Whistleblowing.”

[embed]https://youtu.be/YQWiGxbm8wI?list=PLi4sj4jEe5heNkhVnjMTh94ipZhPPpMVh[/embed]

As our regular readers know, I was recently interviewed on our firm's new video program, Employment Law This Week.  The show has now released "bonus footage" from that episode – see below!

In the interview, I elaborate on my recent post, “Employers Beware: OSHA Fines Are on the Rise for the First Time in Twenty-Five Years.”

Thanks for watching – I'd love to know if you have any questions. (And what you think about these videos!)

[embed]https://youtu.be/uQxHsNG0bQE?list=PLi4sj4jEe5heNkhVnjMTh94ipZhPPpMVh[/embed]

Employment Law This Week – Epstein Becker Green’s new video program – features an interview with attorney John Fullerton, a founding contributor to this blog.

Mr. Fullerton discusses the lack of clarity on what constitutes a whistleblower. Marketing firm Neo@Ogilvy has decided not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that would have tested the definition of a whistleblower under the Dodd-Frank Act. At issue is whether an employee can be eligible for anti-retaliation protection under the Dodd-Frank Act even if he or she does not provide information of ...

Employment Law This Week – Epstein Becker Green’s new video program – has an interview with attorney Valerie Butera, editor of this blog, on OSHA's first fine increases in 25 years.

Under a new bipartisan budget bill, OSHA civil penalties will rise next year to reflect the difference between the Consumer Price Index in 1990 and in 2015 - an increase of as much as 82%. After this "catch up" adjustment, the fines will keep pace with inflation moving forward. Valerie describes how employers can boost their safety programs and avoid OSHA citations.

See below to view the ...