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Employment Law Newsletter: A Monthly Report On Labor Law Issues

Our Monthly Report on Labor Law Issues, also known as the Employment Law Bulletin, is a monthly newsletter that covers a wide range of labor law issues, including affirmative action plans, strikes, OSHA regulations, minimum wage requirements, and more. Other topics covered have included issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as workplace walk-outs and strikes, vaccinations, and employee rights related to positive test results and quarantine. The newsletter also covers issues related to discrimination, such as artificial intelligence and racial bias, and issues related to unions, such as organizing efforts and union successes at companies like Amazon and Starbucks. The newsletter also covers issues related to taxes, immigration, and court cases related to labor law. Stay informed and avoid legal missteps, by subscribing to email updates here.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is struggling to finalize various proposed regulations at a faster pace due to two converging factors.  First, under the 1996 Congressional Review Act (CRA), rules finalized in the last year of an administration can be repealed if they have not gone into effect yet, and stayed in court while their validity is being chall...
Many businesses have complained about federal agencies having too much power to interpret the laws they enforce.  For example, rather than amending the law or following the process to issue a new or revised regulation, agencies often issue fact sheets, operations handbooks, court briefs, and other statements and they ask the courts to follow the agencies'...
There is an important case pending before the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, dealing with whether ObamaCare will survive or instead be declared unconstitutional.  Last December, a Texas federal judge invalidated the entire law, after Congress in 2017 passed a law that reduced the penalty provisions to employees for being uninsured to $0.  ...
Traditionally, the discrimination laws have not addressed dress codes and hair styles, because these characteristics are mutable.  That is, most people can readily change their hair styles and dress.  For example, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta has stated in the last year that "every court to have considered the is...
American companies for many years filled almost 90% of annual vacancies from within the company, but that portion has now fallen to less than a third.  Skeptics suggest that this decline is in spite of the fact that some research suggests that outside hires take three years longer to perform as well as internal candidates, and also cost more.  S...
Obesity remains a controversial issue under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Employers received some relief from the issue in a recent court ruling that obesity unaccompanied by an underlying physiological condition is not a disability protected by federal law.  Richardson v. CTA, No. 17-3508 (C.A. 4, 6/12/19); see also Aumara v. Mons...
Most employers are familiar with their obligations under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and allow 12 weeks of such leave per year.  Even where employers follow these rules, they can still run afoul of the retaliation aspects of the FMLA.  A couple of recent cases illustrate this danger. In the first case, the plaintiff was disciplined ...
In a nationally-watched union election at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which concluded on June 14, 2019, the UAW lost another secret ballot union election by a vote of 838-776, a margin of 62 votes.  The last plant-wide election was held in 2014, which the union lost by 86 votes.  The history of the situation in Chattanooga is very int...
Funny things happen when a company institutes an initial public offering (IPO), as Uber did during 2019.  One of those things is that such companies often attempt to settle ongoing litigation, to make their IPO more attractive to investors.  Uber did just that this year in connection with its independent contractor business model, and in the pro...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has been moving much more slowly than the NLRB in regulatory reform.  Possible explanations include long delays in approving political appointments to the DOL, the cautious nature of Labor Secretary Acosta, and a controversy over Acosta's involvement in a decade-old plea deal while he was a federal prosecutor in Flo...
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), through its Republican majority and aggressive General Counsel, Peter Robb, has publicized various positive changes, many of which add clarity or more even-handed decision-making to the NLRB.  On May 22, 2019, the announcement indicates that the Board will consider rule-making in the following areas:  ...