Policies and Practices Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Employment Advisory Services, Inc.

January 10, 2024

Category: Data and Statistics

Latest Annual Government Survey Shows Jump in Workplace Homicides and Suicides

The government’s most recent survey of workplace fatalities shows a marked increase in both homicides and suicides in 2022 over the previous COVID-19 pandemic year. In fact, the latest available national Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), discloses that 2022 had the most reported homicides in U.S. workplaces...

December 18, 2023

Category: Data and Statistics

Latest Annual (2022) Drug Use Survey Shows Another Jump in Substance Abuse by Working Americans

The government’s most recent annual drug and alcohol use survey shows a continuing increase in substance abuse by full-time workers. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH or Survey), covering calendar year 2022, both the use of illicit drugs (including marijuana, which remains illegal nationwide under federal law) and alcohol abuse by full-time employees (FTEs) in...

December 14, 2023

Category: EEOC

Government’s Latest Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda Shows New Activity by the EEOC

This memo summarizes workplace-related regulatory priorities that the Biden Administration listed in its latest semi-annual regulatory agenda. This memo, as well as a chart prepared by our affiliated nonprofit membership association, the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), provide a user-friendly digest of regulatory developments that we are following. Notably, for the first time in several years, the agenda lists several new...

December 11, 2023

Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Commerce Department Is Seeking Input From Private Sector Businesses on Their DEIA Efforts

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) wants to hear from companies about their diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) efforts. In response to President Biden’s Executive Orders (E.O.) 13985 and 14091, which call for expanding federal government equity initiatives, the Commerce Department developed a set of draft Business Diversity Principles (BDPs) to describe the private sector’s best DEIA practices. DOC’s draft principles...

December 05, 2023

Category: Litigation

DOJ Appears To Give Up on Criminal “No-Poach” Prosecutions

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has dropped its remaining no-poach criminal case, apparently abandoning its strategy of challenging employers’ no-hire agreements as criminal conspiracies under the antitrust laws. On November 15, 2023, a federal trial court in Texas granted DOJ’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA) and SCAI Holdings for allegedly conspiring not to hire...

November 13, 2023

Category: Artificial Intelligence

Sweeping New Biden Executive Order on AI Carves Out Role for Labor Department

President Biden has issued a wide-ranging executive order directing federal executive branch agencies to develop policies that manage the risks of artificial intelligence while recognizing its potential. Officially titled “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence,” E.O. 14110 was signed October 30, 2023. This memo focuses on the ramifications for the Department of Labor (DOL) and its...

September 20, 2023

Category: Agency Enforcement

SEC Cease and Desist Order Dings Employer for Trying To Limit Dodd-Frank Bounty Hunter Award

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined privately held energy company Monolith Resources $225,000 for using a severance agreement that allegedly deprived departing employees of the ability to qualify for whistleblower awards under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. Monolith has agreed to the SEC’s September 8 cease and desist order and has modified its separation agreement to exempt whistleblower...

July 31, 2023

Category: Agency Enforcement

OMB Seeks More Public Input Into Regulatory Process, as House Approves Major Reg Reform Bills

Illustrating the wide divide between the political parties regarding federal rulemaking, the Biden Administration is seeking greater public input into the current regulatory process while House Republicans want to completely overhaul it. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has instructed federal regulatory agencies to try to broaden public participation and community engagement in the regulatory process. Meanwhile,...

July 24, 2023

Category: Policies and Practices

Colorado Amends Its Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEWA), Effective 1/1/24

Amendments to Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEWA), signed into law in June, are a mixed bag for covered employers. The EPEWA is the 2019 law that requires covered employers to include pay ranges in job postings for all jobs that could be performed in Colorado and to notify all employees about all promotional opportunities. The amended law, which will...

July 10, 2023