Insights

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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Catherine Eschbach Appointed New OFCCP Director, Immediately Announces New Investigations

The Trump Administration has appointed Catherine Eschbach to be the Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. In this role, she will oversee OFCCP’s transition to its new scope of mission, the Labor Department announced. On her first day, Ms. Eschbach emailed OFCCP employees that the agency would begin investigating federal contractors’ employment practices. “Most of what OFCCP...
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Category: State and Local Law

CWC Interstate: February/March 2025 Update

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, has issued an update of state and local workplace requirements. Many developments relate to wage and hour topics: Michigan SB 8 increased the state’s minimum wage to $12.48. It will continue to increase annually until reaching $15 in 2027, after which it will be adjusted annually for inflation. Michigan HB 4002 implemented employer-friendly...
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Category: Compliance Reporting and Recordkeeping

CWC’s Updated 2022 EEO-1 Benchmark Tables

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, is pleased to provide its members with an updated set of labor market benchmarking tables incorporating the latest headcount data from the 2022 EEO-1 filing cycle. The 2022 EEO-1 Tabulations have been loaded into CWC’s Data Center. A comparison of the 2022 data with 2021 data and 2018’s pre-pandemic data...
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Category: FLSA

Another Challenge to Biden Administration Independent Contractor Rule Dismissed

The Biden-era independent contractor rule has withstood yet another challenge, so it remains in effect, although the Trump Administration may eventually revisit this rule. Littman v. U.S. Department of Labor involves two freelance writers who challenged the Labor Department’s 2024 independent contractor rule. The rule applies a six-part economic reality test that makes it more likely that workers will be...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

EEOC Publishes First Guidance on DEI-Related Discrimination in the Workplace

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on March 19 published two documents addressing how workplace practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The first document — entitled “What To Do If You Experience Discrimination Related to DEI at Work” — aimed at individuals who might have experienced DEI-related discrimination. The second...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

New CWC State And Local AAP Development And Submission Requirements Resource

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, has published a new resource that covers state and local affirmative action program development and submission requirements for contractors. The resource — CWC’s State and Local AAP Development and Submission Requirements — highlights jurisdictions where contractors are required or could be asked to maintain or submit qualitative or quantitative...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

EEOC Acting Chair Probes DEI Practices of 20 Law Firms

EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas has launched a probe of DEI practices at major law firms. On March 17, she sent letters to 20 firms and established an email address through which whistleblowers can report potentially unlawful activity. The letters ask the firms to supply information about their DEI-related employment practices and express Lucas’s concern that they may entail disparate...
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Category: Compensation

Trump Revokes Biden’s Federal Contractor Minimum Wage

A new executive order from President Trump on March 14 revoked the increase to the federal contractor minimum wage implemented by the Biden Administration. Trump’s order, entitled “Additional Rescissions Of Harmful Executive Orders And Actions,” revokes Biden’s E.O. 14026, which increased the minimum wage for covered federal contractors to $15 an hour beginning in 2022 with annual adjustments for inflation. The federal...
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Category: Appropriations

Congress Averts Government Shutdown by Enacting Year-Long Continuing Resolution

Nearly six months into the government’s 2025 fiscal year, which began October 1, 2024, Congress has effectively given up on passing an annual appropriations bill and has instead passed a continuing resolution (H.R. 1968) that funds most parts of the government at the same level as last year. Enactment of the bill clears the way for negotiations to begin over...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Fourth Circuit Permits Trump Administration To Resume Enforcing E.O. 14173

The Trump Administration can require contractors and grant recipients to certify that they do not operate any illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, a federal appeals court ruled March 14. The order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit effectively reverses a preliminary injunction that the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued February 21....

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