March (Shutdown) Madness. Finally! This week, the U.S. Congress agreed to fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding for the federal government, a task that was supposed to have been completed by the end of September 2023. At the time of publication,
Ogletree Deakins Insights
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USCIS Extends FY 2025 H-1B Cap Registration Deadline to Noon on March 25, 2024
Quick Hits
- Employers have until noon (EDT) on March 25, 2024, to register candidates for the FY 2025 H-1B cap lottery.
- Registration requires companies to set up an online account with USCIS.
The registration period had been set to end…
April 2024 Visa Bulletin Shows Advancement, but State Department Predicts Little to No Further Movement in Coming Months
Quick Hits
- The EB-1 final action dates will advance by approximately six weeks for China and by five months for India.
- The EB-2 final action dates will advance by exactly one month for China (February 1, 2020) and approximately six
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Considerations When Employing Workers in a Country Where the Company Currently Has No Employees
Quick Hits
- Employers interested in engaging individuals to work in a country where they currently have no employees may want to consider whether to employ them directly, engage them as contractors, or engage them via an employer of record (EOR).
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March Madness—a Sports Fan’s Dream, a Nightmare for Employee Productivity
Quick Hits
- The NCAA March Madness men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments can be a distraction for employees that harms overall productivity.
- The rise of online sports betting has the potential to further increase the distraction of March Madness and
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New York City to Consider Its Own Ban on Employer Noncompete Agreements Following Governor’s Veto
Quick Hits
- The New York City bill would prohibit employers from making workers sign noncompete agreements, including unpaid workers and independent contractors, and employers would be required to rescind existing noncompete agreements.
- Violators of the proposed bill would be subject
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Beltway Buzz, March 15, 2024
Shutdown Clock Continues to Tick. Although the U.S. Congress staved off a partial government shutdown last week and made some progress toward finalizing government appropriations for the 2024 fiscal year, the work is not completely done. Congress has one week—until…
OSHA’s Proposed Emergency Response Standard: A Closer Look and an Analysis for Covered Employers
Quick Hits
- OSHA’s proposed Emergency Response Standard—an overhaul of the decades-old Fire Brigades Standard—would apply to firefighting, emergency medical services, and technical search and rescue.
- The proposed standard’s lack of specific definitions, action levels, and exposure limits makes its compliance
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DEI Under Scrutiny, Part VIII: Eleventh Circuit Strikes Down Florida Ban On Workplace DEI Training Under First Amendment
Quick Hits
- The Eleventh Circuit ruled a Florida law that would prohibit employers from holding mandatory workplace training programs that discuss certain DEI-related topics was unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
- The restriction was part of a broader law known as
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Mexican Government Issues Guidance for License Renewal Process for Providers of Outsourced Specialized Services
Quick Hits
- Mexico’s Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare published guidance for renewing a license as a provider of specialized services in the Registry of Specialized Services Providers or Specialized Works.
- The REPSE license must be renewed every three years,
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