Insights

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Category: Policies and Practices

U.S. and EU Announce Agreement on New Framework To Facilitate Cross-Border Data Transfers

In an important development for U.S. companies that operate within the nations of the European Union (EU), U.S. and EU negotiators have reached an agreement in principle on a new framework to govern cross-border data transfers that the two sides hope will facilitate compliance with the EU’s strict privacy laws. As explained in more detail below, it likely will be...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Biden Nominates Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Kalpana Kotagal to the EEOC

President Biden has nominated plaintiffs’ lawyer Kalpana Kotagal to a seat on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) to replace current Commissioner and Trump appointee Janet Dhillon when Dhillon’s term ends on July 1, 2022. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Ms. Kotagal will give Democrats a majority on the EEOC for the first time since the Biden...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Discrimination Charges Filed With EEOC Dropped to 30-Year Low Last Year

According to final enforcement and litigation statistics for fiscal year (FY) 2021 (October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2021) released recently by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency received 61,331 charges of discrimination last year, the lowest annual total in the past 30 years, and the fifth year in a row in which the number of charges filed...
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Category: Immigration

USCIS Proposes Changes to I-9 Form, Ends Expired ID Document Policy

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the employment eligibility verification requirements of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), has proposed revisions to the Form I-9, the form used by employers to record documentation presented by a person to establish employment eligibility. Under the proposed changes, sections 1...
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Category: Compensation

California Publishes Report Summarizing Aggregate Pay Data Submitted Last Year

California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has released its first report summarizing the aggregate pay data that the agency collected from California employers under the state’s new annual pay data reporting requirements that went into effect last year. Among other things, the report shows that in 2021 Hispanics composed the largest percentage of reported California workers, followed by...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOJ Issues Guidance on Web Accessibility Under ADA’s Public Accommodation Title

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued guidance on web accessibility under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the part of the law that mandates accessibility requirements for places of public accommodation. The guidance clarifies DOJ’s stance that businesses that fall within the ADA’s definition of places of public accommodation, such as retail stores and restaurants,...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

New OFCCP Directive Signals Return of Aggressive Enforcement

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Director Jenny Yang has issued a second major policy directive in as many weeks, in this instance formally scrapping many of the cooperative compliance evaluation policies that were implemented by former Trump OFCCP Director Craig Leen. Director Yang’s newest directive follows on the controversial new directive (DIR 2022-01) she signed on March 15...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Posts New AAP-VI FAQs

No later than June 30 of this year, covered federal contractors and subcontractors must certify to the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) via an online “Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI)” that they have developed and maintained Affirmative Action Programs (AAPs) in accordance with OFCCP’s regulations. And while covered federal contractors have been able to register...
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Category: State and Local Law

Interstate: April 2022 Update

We are pleased to present the latest edition in our “Interstate” memo series, periodic updates we provide when state and local legislatures are active to help employers stay on top of important new state and local workplace compliance developments. This latest edition of Interstate covers notable developments that have occurred since our last update in February 2022,. Members of the...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Biden Administration Advancing Initiatives To Stem Alleged Anti-Competitive Practices

Employers may recall that last year we reported on a sweeping new Executive Order (E.O.) signed by President Biden that is designed to promote competition throughout the economy. We also predicted that it was only a matter of time before federal agencies began adopting policies pursuant to the E.O. that would impact workplace compliance. Recent events appear to bear that...

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