Insights

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Category: Agency Enforcement

Trump Seeks Significant Cuts to FY26 Budget of Workplace Regulators

President Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 would eliminate the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and substantially cut funding for most agencies that regulate the workforce. The President submitted his budget request to Congress May 30. DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) would assume OFCCP’s enforcement of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA,...
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Category: Government Contracts

Federal Court Blocks Attempt To End PLA Mandate for Large Construction Projects

A federal court has issued a preliminary injunction that effectively requires federal contracting agencies to continue to require Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) for large-scale construction projects. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia made the ruling May 16 in North America’s Building Trades Unions v. Department of Defense. In January 2024, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council implemented...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Judge Vacates Workplace Abortion Accommodation Provisions of PWFA

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cannot mandate accommodations to employees undergoing elective abortions, a federal judge ruled May 21. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ordered the EEOC to remove abortion accommodation requirements from its Pregnant Workers Fairness Act rule. The judge vacated the parts of the PWFA rule that included abortion in the definition of “pregnancy, childbirth or...
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Category: Immigration

FY 2026 H-1B Visa Lottery Sees Decrease in Registrations

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reported a decrease in registrations for the fiscal year 2026 H-1B lottery compared with last year, continuing a trend observed in the FY 2025 lottery. Eligible registrations dropped significantly from 758,994 in FY 2024 to 470,342 in FY 2025 to 343,981 in FY 2026. This year marks the lowest number of registrations since the first...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

President Trump Proposes Eliminating OFCCP

President Trump’s FY 2026 budget request proposes abolishing the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Under this proposal, OFCCP’s enforcement of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) would shift to the Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (DOL-VETS), and OFCCP’s enforcement of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act would shift to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The proposed...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOJ Launches Civil Rights Fraud Initiative Targeting Federal Contractors

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a civil rights fraud initiative that will use the False Claims Act (FCA) to investigate federal contractors’ civil rights violations, DOJ announced May 19. The initiative will be led jointly by DOJ’s Civil Division's Fraud Section — which enforces the False Claims Act, and DOJ’s Civil Rights Division — which enforces civil rights laws....
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Subpoena Enforcement Suggests Focus on Anti-American Discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is seeking to enforce a subpoena against Mauser Packaging Solutions in connection with a Commissioner’s charge alleging unlawful steering and discrimination against American workers. The EEOC asserts that Mauser has not complied with its information requests seeking an electronic database of job candidates and incumbent employees at eight facilities over four years, including demographic, personnel, and contact...
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Category: Featured

USCIS Alerts Employers of an E-Verify System Error Impacting Mismatch Cases

A technical glitch in the E-Verify system may require some employers to create a new E-Verify case for employees who received a final nonconfirmation. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services alerted employers on May 19 that a system error caused some Social Security Administration (SSA) tentative nonconfirmation (mismatch) cases that were referred between April 9 and May 5 to incorrectly receive a final...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

President-Elect Trump Picks Former EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling for Deputy Secretary of Labor

President-elect Trump has announced Keith Sonderling as his choice to serve as Deputy Secretary of Labor. The Deputy Labor Secretary is DOL’s second-in-command and generally manages the department’s day-to-day operations. Sonderling served as an EEOC Commissioner from September 2020 until August 2024. Before that, he served as Acting Administrator of DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. President Trump will have to...
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Category: Compensation

Massachusetts Publishes Filing Details for February 1st EEO-1 Reporting Requirement

Massachusetts has issued FAQs explaining employers’ obligation to report workforce data under the state’s new Salary Range Transparency Act. Under the law, employers with 100 or more employees in Massachusetts must submit a copy of their most recent EEO-1 Report to the state annually by February 1 (or the next business day). This year they will be due February 3. The FAQs explain...

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