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October 23, 2026
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Category: Membership

CWC’s 2026 Workplace Compliance Conference Highlights

The Center for Workplace Compliance, our affiliated nonprofit membership association, hosted its 2026 Workplace Compliance Conference on October 21 and 22. The virtual conference focused on workplace compliance changes and the practical challenges facing employers as they plan for 2027. Discussion topics included: Compliance and risk priorities for 2027; Workplace demographic data and compliance monitoring following the elimination of Executive...
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October 22, 2026
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Category: Wage and Hour

DOL Withdraws Remaining Guidance Supporting The 80/20 Tip Rule

The U.S. Labor Department has withdrawn three longstanding opinion letters that limited the duties that tipped employees may perform while their employers take a tip credit under the Fair Labor Standards Act. This action brings DOL’s older tip-credit guidance into line with its current interpretation of the FLSA. In a Field Assistance Bulletin issued October 19, DOL states that the...
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October 19, 2026
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Category: Affirmative Action and DEI

Federal Court Declines To Block Trump Contractor DEI Order

A federal district court in Maryland has declined to block Executive Order 14398, which prohibits federal contractors from engaging in “racially discriminatory DEI activities.” The order defines those activities as “disparate treatment based on race or ethnicity” in employment, contracting, program participation, and other covered areas. The court held that under federal antidiscrimination law, “disparate treatment” means intentional discrimination. Under that...
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October 19, 2026
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Moves Forward With Rescission Of Uniform Guidelines

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has asked the White House Office of Management and Budget to review its plan to rescind portions of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures. UGESP, adopted in 1978, establishes standards for evaluating tests and other employment selection procedures, including validation requirements when a procedure reveals preliminary indicators of adverse impact. The action follows a...
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October 15, 2026
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Category: Immigration

DHS Finalizes End Of Automatic EAD Extensions

The Department of Homeland Security has issued a final rule ending automatic extensions of employment authorization for many workers seeking to renew their Employment Authorization Documents. The final rule, issued October 14, adopted without change DHS’ 2025 interim final rule. Under the rule, which finalizes the policy in effect since October 30, 2025, eligible renewal applications filed on or after...
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October 12, 2026
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Category: Government Contracts

DOL Announces 2027 Minimum Wage Rate For Contracts Still Covered By E.O. 13658

The 2027 minimum wage rate for some federal contractor employees will increase from $13.65 to $14.05 per hour, while the tipped employee cash wage will rise from $9.55 to $9.85 per hour, the Labor Department has announced. The rates will take effect January 6, 2027. These rates apply only to employees working on federal contracts entered into between January 1,...
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October 12, 2026
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Category: Wage and Hour

DOL Drops Proposal To Remove Certain FLSA Interpretive Guidance From Regulatory Code

DOL has withdrawn its 2025 proposal to remove some FLSA interpretive rules and policy statements from the Code of Federal Regulations, leaving the status quo in place and employers’ substantive FLSA obligations unchanged. The Wage and Hour Division’s proposal would have relocated some Fair Labor Standards Act interpretive rules and policy statements from the CFR to subregulatory guidance. The proposal...
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October 08, 2026
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Category: Affirmative Action and DEI

GAO Urges DOL To Restore Section 503 Oversight And Compliance Resources

In a report issued September 29, the Government Accountability Office provides eight recommendations that would restore key DOL Section 503 oversight tools and expand practical guidance for federal contractors. GAO suggested that the Labor Department: Resume contractor disability AAP certifications; Resume Section 503 audits; Analyze why individual complaints are closed or referred elsewhere; Align OFCCP’s workforce with its current responsibilities...
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October 06, 2026
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Category: State and Local Compliance

CWC Interstate Special Edition: 2026 California Employment-Related Legislation Wrap-Up

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed several significant employment-related bills after the state legislature’s 2026 session. Most of them take will effect January 1, 2027. These new laws: Expand required sexual harassment training to include anti-hate speech training, Expand WARN notice requirements related to layoffs resulting from the use of artificial intelligence, Restrict the use of automated decision systems in...
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October 06, 2026
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Settles Pronoun-Related Religious Accommodation Charge

Generac Power Systems has agreed to resolve a charge involving an employee's request for a religious accommodation related to workplace pronoun usage, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced. As part of the settlement, Generac will provide monetary relief, update its religious accommodation policies, and conduct training. The employee asserted that using pronouns inconsistent with a coworker's biological sex conflicted with...
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