Insights

April 10, 2024
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OSHA Finalizes Walkaround Rule Permitting Third Party Presence During Workplace Inspections

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a final rule that permits employees to authorize a third party—including a labor union representative—to represent them during an OSHA inspection if the OSHA compliance officer believes that the third party’s presence is reasonably necessary for an effective and thorough physical workplace safety inspection. The new rule,...
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April 08, 2024
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Category: Comment Letter

CWC Files Comments on Proposed Federal Contractor Pay Transparency Regulations

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, has filed comments with the White House Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council in response to the proposed rule on Pay Equity and Transparency in Federal Contracting. The proposal would require contractors to disclose salary and benefits in advertisements for jobs to be...
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April 08, 2024
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Divided FCC Votes To Resume Collecting Race/Ethnicity Data From Broadcasters

The Democratic majority on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted recently to resume collecting race and ethnicity data from broadcasters, an information collection that the agency abandoned more than 20 years ago. Once the data is collected, the FCC intends to disclose it to the public in non-aggregated form as submitted by each covered broadcaster. Again on a 3 to...
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April 04, 2024
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

OMB Revises 1997 Federal Race/Ethnicity Reporting Standards, Adds New “MENA” Category

The standards that federal agencies have used for more than 25 years to collect race and ethnicity data are changing. The revised standards, published by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Federal Register March 29, 2024, add a new race and ethnicity category for individuals identifying as Middle Eastern or North African (MENA). They also require...
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April 03, 2024
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

Federal Court Rules DOC Minority Business Development Agency Discriminates Based on Race

A federal district court in Texas has permanently enjoined the U.S. Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) from considering an applicant’s race or ethnicity when determining eligibility for the agency’s business assistance programs. In Nuziard v. Minority Business Development Agency, (N.D. Tex. March 5, 2024), a group of White owners of small businesses sued the MBDA after they were denied assistance...
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April 02, 2024
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

Fourth Circuit Affirms $3.4 Million Title VII Discrimination Award to White Male

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has affirmed a jury verdict in favor of a white male employee who claims he was fired in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Fourth Circuit found that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that the plaintiff’s White race and/or male sex...
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April 02, 2024
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

OFCCP Resets Annual Vets Hiring Benchmark at 5.2%, Down 0.2% From 2023

The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has updated its annual Vets Hiring Benchmark to 5.2%. The annual benchmark represents the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force. Most federal contractors use it to measure whether their hiring of protected veterans complies with OFCCP’s affirmative action regulations under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance...
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March 27, 2024
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Category: Compliance Reporting and Recordkeeping

EEOC’s EEO-1 Filing Instructions Indicate No Changes from Last Year

The process for filing 2023 EEO-1 Reports apparently will be the same as it was for filing 2022 reports, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) website indicates. An updated Instruction Booklet and Data File Upload Specifications posted by the agency on its EEO-1 website indicate that the 2023 filing protocols and data specifications are unchanged from last year. The online portal for filing 2023...
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March 26, 2024
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Eleventh Circuit Rules Florida’s “Stop WOKE Act” Cannot Be Enforced Against DEI Training

Florida still cannot enforce its Individual Freedom Act, nicknamed the “Stop WOKE Act,” after a federal appeals court upheld a federal district court’s preliminary injunction. In Honeyfund v. Florida, 11th Cir. (March 4, 2024), a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the preliminary injunction granted by the U.S. District Court for the Northern...
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March 26, 2024
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Category: Appropriations

Congress Flat Funds OFCCP, NLRB and Other Workplace Regulators for Rest of FY 2024

Congress and the White House have finally reached a spending deal, six months after the government’s 2024 fiscal year began, with the approval of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 2882). This legislation funds a large portion of the government—including the Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—through September 30, 2024. It follows an earlier...
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