|
Category: Government Contracts

Making Your 503/VEVRAA AAPs “Available” To Remote Applicants and Employees

Longstanding regulations issued by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 503) and Section 4212 of the Vietnam-Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) require covered federal contractors to make their written 503/VEVRAA affirmative action programs (AAPs) available to employees and applicants upon request, and further require that the...
|
Category: Labor Relations

NLRB Makes It Harder To Ban Wearing of Union Insignia in the Workplace

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board), now under the majority control of Biden appointees and over the strong dissent of its two minority Republican members, has reversed a Trump-era ruling that made it easier for employers to restrict the apparel an employee can wear on the job, including the wearing of items that contain union logos or messaging,...
|
Category: Government Contracts

OFCCP Launches Online Construction Contract Award Portal

The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has officially launched a new online portal to serve as the preferred (albeit optional) means under which federal construction contractors comply with the current requirement to provide information to OFCCP regarding the award of certain federal construction subcontracts. The new Notification of Construction Contract Award Portal (NCAP) essentially is an...
|
Category: COVID-19

11th Circuit Narrows Contractor Vax Rule Injunction, But Renewed Enforcement Is Questionable

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has rolled back a nationwide injunction issued last year by a federal trial court in Georgia that prevented the Biden Administration from implementing the President’s controversial Executive Order (E.O.) requiring federal contractors to ensure employees were vaccinated against COVID-19. Finding that the trial court went too far in issuing a nationwide...
|
Category: Policies and Practices

Soliciting Non-Binary Gender Self-ID Data: What’s the Latest?

We continue to receive calls from employers regarding whether they are required to revise their self-identification forms to collect non-binary gender data from their applicants and employees, and if not, whether and how they should be preparing to do so in the event it becomes a mandatory requirement. Importantly, there is no current obligation imposed by either the Labor Department’s...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Posts Updated COVID-19 Guidance, Says Status and Symptoms Questions OK

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has once again updated its COVID-19 technical assistance guidance for employers, including the addition of a new section stating that employers are permitted to ask their employees who report feeling ill or who call in sick about their illness symptoms to determine if an individual has or has had COVID-19. The updated guidance, in...
|
Category: Compliance Tools

Federal Court Partially Blocks Enforcement of EEOC’s SOGI Discrimination Guidance

A federal trial court in Tennessee has temporarily blocked enforcement within 20 states of guidance issued last year by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). The court’s order stems from a lawsuit brought by 20 state attorneys general alleging that the EEOC issued the guidance without complying with mandatory administrative...
|
Category: Discrimination and Harassment

Ninth Circuit Rules Employee Who Failed Drug Test Can Bring Disability Claim

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled 2–1 that a jury should decide whether a terminated employee can use an employer’s alleged lackadaisical drug testing policy and the facts surrounding the timing of a pre-employment drug test to prove that the real reason for his termination was disability discrimination under California law. The court’s...
|
Category: Policies and Practices

Some Initial Compliance Questions To Consider In Light of Dobbs Ruling

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and almost 50 years of precedent in holding that there is no right to abortion recognized by the U.S. Constitution, employers are raising questions regarding how Dobbs might intersect with workplace compliance obligations. This memo addresses some of...
|
Category: Policies and Practices

House Votes Once Again To Decriminalize Marijuana

The U.S. House of Representatives, on pretty much a party-line vote, has once again approved a bill that would decriminalize marijuana under federal law, establish a process to expunge convictions for marijuana-related offenses, and impose a federal tax on marijuana products sold at the state level, among other things. The so-called Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act was passed...

Categories