Perspectives on Labor, Employment & OSHA

Over two decades ago, in Brown v. Brody, 199 F.3d 446, 457 (DC Cir. 1999), the DC Circuit held that an employer that discriminatorily denies or forces an employee to accept a job transfer violates Title VII only if the employee suffers “objectively tangible harm,” like reduced pay or benefits. 

Join us on Monday, June 27 at 12:00 PM ET where we will be joined by moderators Darrell Gay and Jay Jamrog and joined by Andrea Hagelgans, Todd Jacobson, Kurt Fischer, and David Grosso.

On June 15, Lina Khan was sworn in as Chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Khan announced that the agency plans to use enforcement actions to curtail the use of covenants not to compete.

The 2022 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business has recognized 66 ArentFox Schiff attorneys as leaders in their field.

In her recently-filed brief to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) in Cemex Construction, 28-CA-230115, NLRB General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, continues her campaign to significantly curtail longstanding employer rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Elena Kagan, the US Supreme Court ruled that in determining whether a party has waived its right to enforce an arbitration agreement, the party asserting waiver does not have to show that it was prejudiced.

In its latest decision on meal and rest period issues, the California Supreme Court unanimously held that premium pay owed employees for meal and rest break violations can be a basis for imposing waiting time and wage statement penalties on employers.

If yours is one of the many companies considering new employment incentives, enhanced benefits, and retention bonuses, you should also consider taking another look at your non-compete covenants at the same time. They might already be outdated and unenforceable.

This week, in a memorandum addressed to all Regional Directors, Officers-in-Charge, and Resident Officers, the Board’s Office of the General Counsel announced a new protocol designed to advance immigrant worker protections to freely exercise their NLRA rights and safely participate.

Jane Cummings is blind and deaf, and she chiefly communicates using American Sign Language. When Cummings sought physical therapy from Premier Rehab Keller, P.L.L.C., she asked it to provide an American Sign Language interpreter at her appointments.

On his first day in office, President Biden took the unprecedented step of terminating NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb, without cause and before his statutory term expired. Biden named Peter Sung Ohr as Acting General Counsel.

The New York City Council approved a bill requiring employers with four or more employees to include, in internal and external job postings, the minimum and maximum salary offered for any position within New York City. The requirement also applies to promotions and internal transfer positions.

On April 14, 2022, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ruled that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) preempts state remedies under the Massachusetts Wage Act where the employees’ overtime claim arose solely under the FLSA.

Under California law, employers generally must provide employees working more than five hours in a day with a meal period. These meal periods must be at least 30 minutes, duty-free, and uninterrupted. California courts and the Labor Commissioner have recognized that employers liable for premium pay.

Last week, Maryland’s General Assembly overroad Governor Larry Hogan’s veto to enact the Time to Care Act of 2022 (TCA). With that, Maryland joined the growing list of jurisdictions — including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island.

Beth Reuter was terminated from her employment with the City of Methuen. On her termination date, the City failed to pay Ms. Reuter for her accrued, unused vacation time, as required by the Massachusetts Wage Act. Instead, the City waited three weeks after her termination to make the payment.

Buckle up, it’s about to get choppy.

Employers sailing in National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) waters have come to expect rough seas. By one estimate, the Board overturned more than 4,500 cumulative years of case law during the eight years of the Obama Administration.

We’ve reported on Virginia’s first-in-the-nation, state-wide, permanent COVID-19 workplace standard. Last month, concluding that COVID-19 “no longer poses a ‘grave danger’ to employees,” the state’s Safety and Health Codes Board voted to revoke it. The revocation took effect on March 23d.

Over half a decade after the industry developed its own standards in light of a lack of meaningful guidance from regulators, the Department of Justice recently issued a guidance document on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for website accessibility.

Implementation of the District of Columbia’s Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020 (the “Act”) has now been officially delayed until October 1, 2022. The Act had been scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2022.

An Initial Threshold Test Is Not Required in Order to Apply the “ABC Test” in Dynamex

On March 24, 2022, in the case of Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc. (No. SJC-13166), the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ruled that whether a franchisee is an independent contractor or an employee

California law generally requires employers to provide employees with a safe place to work. What, if anything, does this obligation entail when an employee works at home or another employee visits that private residence for work-related activities?

Join us for the third webinar in our series on April 5 at 12pm ET/9am PT led by moderators ArentFox Schiff Labor and Employment Partner Darrell Gay and Jay Jamrog, Co-Founder and Futurist, i4cp, who will be joined by special guests.

Partners Derek Barella and Michael Stevens will present “Cultural Institutions and Labor Dynamics” at the Legal Issues in Museum Administration conference on March 23.