The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on September 11, 2019 that it will not be seeking renewal for collection of EEO-1 Component 2 pay data, which requires employers with 100 or more employees to submit employee pay data on the new EEO-1 on an annual basis. Moving forward, the EEOC stated it would seek authorization for continued collection of only the EEO-1 Component 1 data, with 2019 data submissions due in March 2020. This welcome…

As the summer begins to wind down, the first whispers of fall rippling through cool evening breezes are a welcome reminder that school is back in session. That means it’s an opportune time for Pennsylvania’s 500 public school districts and many charter schools to examine their policies governing employee reporting of arrests and convictions and their handling of arrest and conviction reports. Pennsylvania has long required that school district employees self-report arrests or convictions for…

On July 29, 2019, the Department of Labor issued final rules clarifying when an employer group or association, or professional employer organization (“PEO”) may sponsor a defined contribution multiple employer retirement plan (“MEPs”).   Although MEPs already exist, the Department issued the regulation to alleviate the uncertainty surrounding the ability of PEOs and associations to sponsor MEPs, including a clarification that having a principal place of business in the same region meets the commonality of interest…

On August 9, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.  The Notice, which was issued on August 12, 2019, covers three proposed rules.  A majority of the Board is proposing to change the Blocking Charge Policy, the Voluntary Recognition Bar and rules governing union recognition in the construction industry. The proposed change to the Blocking Charge Policy would modify the Board’s long-standing rule that requires a union representation election (or…

Prior to July 2nd, New Jersey’s Medical Cannabis Act lacked protections for employees’ off-duty medical marijuana use.  Indeed, last year the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held that nothing in the Medical Cannabis Act “requires an employer to waive a drug test as a condition of employment for federally-prohibited substance.”  Cotto v. Ardagh Glass Packing, Inc., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135194 (Dist. N.J. 2018).  The Act previously provided that it should…

What’s new in the world of medical marijuana, as it impacts your workplace?  Quite a bit, actually.  Here is the rundown. PA Medical Marijuana Act – Anxiety and Tourette’s Syndrome Added to List of Serious Medical Conditions Effective July 20, 2019, the Pennsylvania Department of Health added anxiety disorders and Tourette’s syndrome to the list of serious medical conditions for which a patient can obtain medical marijuana.  Dr. Rachel Levine, Secretary of Health for the…

In a case that started back in February of 2013 – when Security called 9-1-1 and had police escort non-employee union organizers out of the employer’s cafeteria – the Board “modified” decades of its own precedent.  Sort of. Some background. The National Labor Relations Act requires that employers refrain from interference, discrimination, restraint or coercion with respect to employees’ exercise of their right to engage in union activity.  In 1956, the United States Supreme Court…