An ideologically recalibrated (and motivated) National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has yet again modified several Trump-era rules regarding representation case procedures and expanded the scope of protected concerted activity and protections for non-employees. In recent moves, the NLRB simplified the
Labor Days
News and Analysis from Kelley Drye’s Labor and Employment Practice
Labor Days is a blog published by Kelley Drye & Warren LLP that focuses on labor and employment law developments. It covers topics such as National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) policies and procedures, wage and hour regulations including overtime rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), workplace accommodations for pregnant and postpartum workers under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), and litigation trends involving arbitration agreements and representative claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). The blog also addresses legal implications of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and other employment-related regulatory changes affecting employers and employees.
The DOL’s Bold Step to Expand Overtime Protections
In a significant but not surprising move, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on August 30, 2023, proposing to increase the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA’s”) minimum salary threshold for white-collar overtime exemptions.
The DOL’s…
Proposed EEOC Regulations Mandate Employers to Accommodate Pregnant and Postpartum Workers Regardless of Circumstances
Effective June 27, 2023, covered employers must comply with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)—a new law that requires covered employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” to workers limited by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, absent an “undue hardship.”…
CA Supreme Court Holds Employees Can Pursue PAGA Representative Claims Despite Arbitration Agreement
Last year, we discussed the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana (“Viking River”), 596 U.S. [142 S.Ct. 1906] (2022), holding that an arbitration agreement between a plaintiff-employee and her employer required the arbitration of…
Did the Supreme Court Put All DEI Programs at Risk?
It has been less than a month since the Supreme Court’s June 29 decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA), and the decision is already creating controversy. Conservative leaders are lining up…
End of COVID-19 National and Public Health Emergencies
President Biden announced in January that the COVID-19 National Emergency (“NE”) and Public Health Emergency (“PHE”) would both end on May 11, 2023. Accordingly, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) jointly prepared…
U.S. Supreme Court Enacts More Stringent Religious Accommodations Standard for Employers
On June 29, 2023, amid a flurry of other newsworthy opinions, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Groff v. DeJoy, modifying the legal standard which courts now must use to determine when an employer has to grant a…
Not So Fast: New York State’s Potential Non-Compete Ban Stalls Out (For Now)
If your business deals with any kind of sensitive proprietary information or sensitive client or customer relationships (read, many of you), you probably use various forms of restrictive covenants—noncompetition, non-solicitation, and nondisclosure agreements—as protection. You’ve also probably read dozens of…
EEOC Guidance Tackles AI and Other Advanced Technologies in Employment Decision Making
Artificial intelligence (AI) promises new efficiencies in making employment decisions: instead of human eyes having to review stacks of resumes, an algorithm-based selection process aids in making a “rough cut” based on objectively desirable characteristics. This ought to reduce the…
Height and Weight Set to Become Protected Classes in New York City
New York City is poised to become the largest city in the nation to ban discrimination on the basis of a person’s height or weight.
Earlier this month, the New York City Council passed Bill INT 0209, new legislation…