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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.

pregnant lady in orange outdoors
When Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which has been in effect since June 27, 2023, it directed the EEOC to issue implementing regulations and provide examples of reasonable accommodations.  On April 15, 2024, the EEOC published its 408-page final rule and interpretive guidance, with the final rule to take effect on June 18, 2024.  
From the historic bronze doors at Los Angeles City Hall.
In a memo issued during April, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo announced that when the NLRB seeks to rescind overbroad and thus illegal employer work rules, the NLRB will also address the effects of their enforcement, wiping away past discipline imposed under the policies.  She stated that otherwise, "As a result, the chill caused by an employer's m...
dashcam
As a safety measure, many employers with driver employees have installed cameras inside the cab to alert drivers and monitor their safe driving practices, and potentially furnish defenses to the driver and the employer should accidents occur.  Some unions and activist groups have attacked such practices as violating employee rights, such as privacy concep...
amazon app, mobile phone, table, indoors
In a legal conference in March, Amazon Corporate Counsel Lee Langston stated that aggressive enforcement actions of the NLRB have impacted its internal investigations, as such investigations "could theoretically touch on protected concerted activity."  Langston, who heads up internal investigations for the company's one million North American employees, s...
Person signing a contract
An interesting article concludes that the NLRB is invalidating employer rules "one clause at a time."  On January 31, 2024, the NLRB's Division of Advice said that restricting employees from holding outside or secondary employment violates the Labor Act.  This position follows a May 2023 memo that said that non-compete agreements are unlawful because they...
black lives matter painted on a wall
In a February 21, 2024 ruling, the NLRB reversed an administrative law judge's conclusion that writing "Black Lives Matter" (BLM) on aprons was not protected, concerted activity, because it did not relate directly to the terms and conditions of employment or implicate concerted or group action among employees.  Home Depot USA, Inc. Case 18-CA-273796 (2/21...
indoors, workplace
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its "Walk-Around Rule" in April, to take effect on May 31, 2024.  The final Rule states that "workers may authorize another employee to serve as a representative or select a non-employee."  The Rule says that the non-employee must be "reasonably necessary" to conduct an effective and t...
paper crumpled up into a trash ball, indoors
Opposition to the new National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Joint Employer Rule, which went into effect in March, continues to mount.  In April, the U.S. Senate joined the House and, in a 50-48 vote, rejected the Joint Employer Rule under the Congressional Review Act.  Sen. Joe Manchin (D - W. Va.) and independent Sens.  Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Angus K...
gavel
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Joint Employer Regulation, which was set to take effect March 11, 2024, was invalidated by a Texas district court judge.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce v. NLRB, E.D. Tex. 3/8/24.  The rule affects liability and collective bargaining obligations, outsourcing of labor, and the entire franchise industry.  The Trump era Jo...
balance of justice statue
Some of you may have heard about disgruntled employees taping phone conversations of their discharge and mentioning them on social media to show the unfairness of their treatment.  It is a fact of fundamental human instinct that whatever the rights and wrongs of an employee's termination, the manner in which an employee is terminated or how they are treat...
we the people, focus, document
Amazon is the most recent major employer to challenge the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRB), joining Trader Joe's, Starbucks and SpaceX.  Elon Musk's company, SpaceX, first raised the constitutional issue in a Texas federal court in January.  A company announcement from Amazon stated: "NLRB proceedings violate Article III of the...