Archive for the ‘Federal Labor Law’ Category

On January 20th, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a final rule that interprets joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The final rule provides updated guidance for determining joint employer status when an employee performs work for his or her employer that simultaneously benefits another individual or entity, including guidance […]

Fast casual chain Chipotle has agreed to pay $1.3 million in fines for child labor violations in Massachusetts. The fine caps a three-year investigation following a complaint by a parent whose kid was forced to work “well past midnight.” In the course of the investigation, the state’s attorney general’s office discovered more than 13,000 child […]

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado has ruled that workers in the marijuana industry, which is legal in that state, are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), even though marijuana is still illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The case the justices heard involved an argument by a […]

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that in the upcoming weeks it will hold public listening sessions to gather views on the Part 541 white collar exemption regulations, often referred to as the “Overtime Rule.” Issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), these regulations implement exemptions from overtime […]

Sen. Marco Rubio (R.-Fla.) this week introduced legislation to create a paid family leave option nationwide that would use social security funds to pay for the leave in a tit-for-tat sort of way: you take two months family leave, social security pays for it, and then your social security start date is offset by two […]

The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Final Rule, which required anyone bidding for a federal contract to voluntarily report any state or federal labor law violations when applying, has already been killed twice — by legislative and executive action — since Donald Trump was sworn in, and now the General Services Administration (GSA) has ordered […]

In the past year, covering the end of the Obama administration to the beginning of the Trump White House, several developments have taken place on the legal and regulatory fronts that employers should be aware of and comply with as needed. Jan. 22, 2017: Revised Form I-9 use is mandated. The new employment eligibility form that […]

Moving to fulfill his goal of reducing federal regulations by 75 percent, President Trump today signed an executive order mandating that two existing regulations be eliminated for each new one that’s promulgated. “We don’t need 97 different rules to take care of one element,” Trump told a group of small-business owners meeting with him on […]

On the first day of his first workweek in office, President Trump ordered a federal hiring freeze at all entities except the military. He also signed an order withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a controversial trade agreement between the U.S. and several Asian nations that both Bernie Sanders and (reluctantly) Hillary Clinton opposed in their […]

Hours after being sworn in and after having blasted the Washington, D.C., establishment in his inaugural address for having enriched themselves at the expense of American workers, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order banning federal agencies from issuing new regulations for 60 days. It is expected that, in his first week in office, […]