Insights

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Category: Litigation

U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Several Important Employment-Related Cases During Upcoming Term

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear several cases concerning employment law during its 2023-2024 term that opened at the beginning of October. While none of these cases is likely to generate the widespread attention received by last term’s college admissions affirmative action ruling, the impact on employers could be extensive. Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit...
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Category: Executive Order

DOL Announces Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Rates To Increase on January 1, 2024

The minimum wage rates for work performed under specified government contracts will increase January 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced. The minimum wage under contracts subject to E.O. 13658 (President Obama’s executive order relating to certain government contracts entered into, renewed, or with options exercised before January 30, 2022), will increase from $12.15 to $12.90. The...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOL and FTC Formally Agree To Share Compliance-Related Information

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which they agreed to collaborate on matters for which they share enforcement responsibilities. These include worker misclassification, restrictive contract provisions, non-compete agreements, and unlawful wage-setting practices. Under the MOU, the agencies will share information, cross-train staff, and partner on compliance...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

EEOC Official: New Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Is Not Gender-Specific

An official from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said recently that the coverage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is not gender-specific. The EEOC declined to elaborate, so the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, wrote an analysis of whether and how the PWFA could apply to people who do not identify as women....
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Financial Settlement Update – October 2023

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, presents its latest update on major financial settlements that the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)has announced since January. Since then, OFCCP has posted 12 new financial settlements, awarding more than $2 million to victims of alleged discrimination. This latest round of announced settlements brings monetary...
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Category: Compliance Reporting and Recordkeeping

SEC Advisory Group Recommends Expanded Human Capital Disclosures

An advisory committee has recommended that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) expand the amount of information that covered companies must publicly disclose about their human capital. The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law created the committee to make nonbinding recommendations to the SEC on regulatory priorities. It suggested that the SEC require covered employers to disclose information on their...
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Category: Biden Administration

Biden-Era NLRB Continues To Give Federal Labor Law a Pro-Union Tilt

The Biden-appointed Democratic majority on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) is continuing to give a pro-union tilt to federal labor law by reversing the Trump-era Board’s management-friendly rulings. With the Senate confirmation of Biden appointee Gwynne A. Wilcox to a second five-year term on September 6, 2023, the NLRB will have a union-friendly majority at least through...
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

DOJ Sues SpaceX Over Alleged Immigration Violations, SpaceX Sues Back

In a legal spat that is garnering widespread attention, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and rocket and satellite company SpaceX have sued each other over whether the company’s hiring practices violate U.S. immigration law. On August 23, DOJ filed an administrative lawsuit alleging that the company owned by entrepreneur Elon Musk violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by refusing...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Adopts New Five-Year (2024-2028) “Strategic Enforcement Plan”

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) has released a new five-year Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) listing its enforcement priorities for the period 2024–2028. The SEP signals the Commission’s new focus on the potentially discriminatory impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated systems in the employment context. The new SEP also significantly broadens the category of vulnerable workers...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

SEC Cease and Desist Order Dings Employer for Trying To Limit Dodd-Frank Bounty Hunter Award

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined privately held energy company Monolith Resources $225,000 for using a severance agreement that allegedly deprived departing employees of the ability to qualify for whistleblower awards under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. Monolith has agreed to the SEC’s September 8 cease and desist order and has modified its separation agreement to exempt whistleblower...

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