Accessibility Tools

Skip to main content

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.

In a detailed Order published November 2, 2016, U.S. District Court Judge William C. O'Kelley of the Northern District of Georgia quashed (invalidated) a warrant OSHA wanted so that it could conduct a comprehensive inspection of a North Georgia poultry plant.  In a 15-page opinion, the Judge approved and adopted Magistrate Judge J. Clay Fuller’...
A federal appeals court has ruled that employers do not have to reassign disabled workers into open positions ahead of other more qualified persons.  EEOC v. St. Joseph’s Hosp., 2016 BL 406826 (C.A. 11, 12/7/16).  Some of the cases rely on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in U.S. Airways, Inc. v. Barnett, 535 U.S. 361, a 2002 decision holding...
On May 11, 2016, OSHA issued a final rule requiring employers to electronically submit injury and illness data on an annual basis.  The rule also included in the preamble guidance for employers on the impact of the new anti-retaliation provisions on drug and alcohol testing and safety incentive programs in the workplace.  Various trade associati...
Right-to-work laws prohibit mandatory union membership as a condition of employment.  Currently, 26 states have right-to-work laws, and recent developments indicate that the doctrine of right-to-work is likely to spread. First, three additional states (Kentucky, Missouri and New Hampshire) have elected both Republican governors and legislators and a...
1.     Immigration – Allow DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) slowly to expire by allowing current work permits to continue but not issuing new ones.  Durbin/Graham are proposing new bipartisan legislation for provisions protecting presence for three years to all immigrants in DACA program.  Direct the Labor ...
In what some have called the most surprising election of our era, Donald Trump is expected to win the electoral college vote (306-222) to become our next President (although he lost the popular vote by almost one million votes to Hillary Clinton).  In the Senate, it appears that Republicans will lose only two Senate seats (although there were many mo...
The trend nationally has been to require employees through individual arbitration agreements to arbitrate their legal claims on the theory that the arbitration process is quicker and cheaper than going to court.  Some employers are going the opposite direction, however, and putting provisions into their grievance and arbitration procedures indicating...
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has asked the Supreme Court to review whether arbitration agreements that prohibit employees from pursuing class or collective actions are unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).  NLRB v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., U.S., No. 16-307, cert. petition 9/9/16.  This issue is monumental, as up until...
The subject of dress and grooming has been a controversial one as to the scope of the discrimination laws.  In the most recent case, a federal appeals court rejects a claim of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that a "prohibition of dreadlocks in the workplace constitutes race discrimination because dreadlocks are a manner of wearing...
Many employers, union and non-union, require employees to enter into non-competition and confidentiality agreements.  These provisions typically prohibit employees from using confidential company information outside their work relationships, and prohibit employees from competing against the employer during and for a certain period of time after their...
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) prohibited certain discriminatory immigration-related employment practices because of a person's citizenship or national origin.  In 1990 Congress added a new provision prohibiting certain discriminatory documentary practices during the employment eligibility verification process (also called the ...