|
Category: Artificial Intelligence

Updated California Proposed AI Rules Published

California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) has updated its proposed regulations for employers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making systems. The updated proposed rules expressly state that an employer’s failure to test AI tools for bias could be relevant to a discrimination claim. The new version of the proposed rules also removes language creating liability for AI developers and a definition of...
|
Category: Immigration

Fifth Circuit Rules DACA Unlawful

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is unlawful, but the program will continue to protect current DACA beneficiaries, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled January 17. Under Texas v. United States, new DACA applications will not be processed, but the court stayed its ruling for current DACA beneficiaries so they can keep their DACA status...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Revises Rule Governing EEO Reporting Exemptions

The EEOC issued a final rule January 10, 2025, revising its regulations governing hardship exemptions from annual EEO-1 reporting.   To be exempt from EEO reporting requirements, an employer must show undue hardship. Previously, EEOC Commissioners voted on exemption applications. Now, however, the Chief Data Officer will process applications. Under the new rule, an exemption is more likely to be granted when: The filer...
|
Category: Compensation

Biden Administration Withdraws Proposed Federal Contractor Pay Transparency Rule

The Biden Administration has withdrawn its proposed federal contractor pay transparency regulations. The regulations would have prohibited federal contractors from considering job applicants’ compensation history and would have required contractors to disclose the compensation for work on federal contracts in their job advertisements. The Biden Administration has also withdrawn the government-wide procurement policy, adopted in response to Executive Order 14069, on which the...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Finalizes New Bounty Hunter Program

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published a final rule implementing its bounty hunter program. The rule provides that NHTSA may pay a monetary award to a whistleblower who provides original information that leads to the successful resolution of an enforcement action for violations of laws related to the manufacture or sale of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment. The...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

Last Biden Regulatory Agenda Shows Limited Progress on Employment-Related Regulations

The Biden Administration has published the Fall 2024 semi-annual regulatory agenda. The unveiling of the current administration’s final regulatory agenda is largely an academic exercise in view of the Trump Administration’s imminent arrival, but it shows that the Biden Administration made little progress on workplace regulatory priorities in the last few months. According to the agenda: EEOC had planned to...
|
Category: Immigration

DHS Issues Another Rule Seeking To Modernize the H-1B Visa Program

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a second final rule aimed at modernizing the H-1B specialty occupation visa program. The “Modernizing H-1B Requirements” final rule goes into effect January 17, 2025. In February 2024, USCIS published the first part of its H-1B modernization rule, which implemented a new lottery process to reduce fraud....
|
Category: DOL

DOL Appears To Abandon Its Attempt To Overhaul the Registered Apprenticeship Program

The Biden Administration appears to be giving up on its attempt to overhaul the regulations governing registered apprenticeship programs. The Labor Department published its proposed rule on January 17, 2024, and in June sent a draft of the final regulations to the White House Office of Management and Budget for approval. On November 27, 2024, OMB posted on its website that the...
|
Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

DOL Proposes Phasing Out Subminimum Wages for People With Disabilities

DOL’s Wage and Hour Division published a proposed rule December 4 that would phase out the Section 14(c) certificate program that allows employers to pay less than the minimum wage to individuals with disabilities. If the proposed rule were adopted in its current form, applications sent on or after the rule’s effective date would be ignored, and existing certificates would...
|
Category: Compliance Reporting and Recordkeeping

EEOC Proposes a New Rule for Filers Seeking Exemption From EEO Reporting Requirements

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has proposed revising its rules regarding hardship exemptions to EEO reporting requirements. The proposed rule would delegate the Commission’s authority to decide hardship exemption applications to the agency’s chief data officer. It also would establish a procedure for applying for exemptions and provide examples of criteria for granting exemptions. Almost all covered employers and federal...

Categories