For years, employee interest in unions has dwindled. But a pandemic, persistent income inequality and high unemployment—not to mention the most pro-union Presidential administration in generations—have all converged to flip that script. 5,800 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama are currently voting whether to join a union in an election that runs through March 29th. The current unionization efforts have captured national attention and drawn support from both sides of the aisle, including…

As we have previously noted on this blog, a central aim of the Trump administration was to take aim at—and rescind—Obama-era labor rules. The Trump Department of Labor (DOL) took what was perceived as a consistently pro-business stance, reversing worker-friendly Obama-era rules and issuing new rules favorable to employers. With the proverbial pendulum now swinging back towards worker protections under the Biden administration, two rules with a significant impact on employers are likely to…

Forget speculation about what is to come: the Biden administration has already acted to unravel the Trump legacy in employment and labor regulation—and to expand worker protections. Join us on April 15, 2020 at 12:30 p.m. ET for a complimentary webinar, where we will take a deep dive into the regulatory changes immediately impacting your business. Thursday, April 15th at 12:30pm ET This Is Happening: Immediate Employment Law Impacts under the Biden Administration This webinar…

On Friday March 12, 2021, Governor Cuomo signed into law legislation which requires that beginning March 12, 2021, all New York employers must provide up to four hours of paid leave per COVID-19 vaccine injection. Below are the salient features of the new law: Who is covered? All employees irrespective of employer size or industry. What amount of leave are employees entitled to? Up to four hours off per vaccine injection, paid at the employee’s…

On January 12, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued long-awaited guidance for retirement plan fiduciaries that is relevant to any employer who sponsors a retirement plan that is subject to the fiduciary requirements of ERISA, including 401(k), 403(b), profit sharing, and defined benefit pension plans.  Of particular import, the guidance addresses best practices for locating and distributing retirement plan benefits to missing or non-responsive participants. The DOL also includes other helpful guidance, as discussed…

The EEOC recently released its Enforcement and Litigation Data for Fiscal Year 2020, which ran from September 2019 to September 30, 2020—6 months before (September 2019 – March 2020) and 6 months during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 – September 2020)—and several interesting trends emerged. Looking back, it is hard to say if the trends we see now would remain the same if everything hadn’t come to a complete halt exactly one year ago. Regardless,…

As described in our client advisories of May 6, 2020 and February 11, 2021, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) temporarily suspended the deadlines for employee benefit plan participants to exercise HIPAA special enrollment rights, elect and pay premiums for COBRA continuation coverage, file claims for benefits and appeal benefit claim denials (each, a “Qualifying Event”). Under this relief, plan administrators were directed to disregard the period from March 1, 2020 until 60 days…