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Sushi

Over the years, I’ve mentioned my adorable dog many times in connection with blog posts on employment-related topics like pet bereavement leave, paw-ternity leave (i.e. pet parental leave), and Take Your Dog to Work Day. (And here he is, dressed up for Halloween – as sushi!) In addition, I’ve blogged several times about sick leave for service animals (here and here) – each time noting that there is nothing that requires employers to allow employees to take sick leave for pets. Until now?Continue Reading Sick Leave for Pets?

On August 20, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas set aside the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Non-Compete Rule. As discussed in our prior e-lert on July 5, 2024, the FTC Non-Compete Rule would essentially ban all non-compete agreements in the United States and require employers to notify employees currently subject to non-competes that the restrictions were void. The Texas court previously preliminarily enjoined the Rule as to only the parties in the case, as we noted in our prior e-lert. The court’s August 20 decision set aside the Rule, meaning the Rule will not be enforced or take effect on September 4, 2024.Continue Reading Federal Court Finds FTC Non-Compete Rule Unlawful

Just days before it was scheduled to take effect, a Texas federal court issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) revised overtime exemption rule from taking effect as scheduled on July 1, 2024, but only as to the State of Texas as an employer. As for all other employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the rule is taking effect as scheduled today, on July 1, 2024. The DOL’s rule seeks to significantly raise the salary level required for overtime-exempt workers and institute an automatic increase every three years.Continue Reading DOL Overtime Rule Enjoined from Taking Effect on July 1 – But Only as to the State of Texas Government

Last year, in our October 2023 E-Update, we wrote about an employer who destroyed evidence that could have proved his new employee stole source code from his former employer that was used to create a “functionally equivalent” product by the new employer. Because of this bad behavior, a federal trial court entered a default judgment against the new employer (meaning that the employer lost the case without any consideration of the merits). But our admonition against destroying (bad) evidence goes both ways – as shown in a recent case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.Continue Reading You Know That Destroying Evidence Can Get You in Trouble, Right?

In a victory for employers, a federal district court judge in Texas vacated (or blocked) the National Labor Relations Board’s 2023 Final Rule that sought to rescind and replace the Trump Administration’s 2020 Rule establishing the current test for determining whether two entities (for example, a staffing agency and its host company) are joint employers. The NLRB’s new Rule would have resulted in more findings that two entities are joint employers. Under federal labor law, a joint employer is required to bargain with a union selected by its jointly-employed workers and may be held liable for the unfair labor practices committed by the other employer.Continue Reading Federal Court Tosses NLRB’s Expanded Joint Employer Rule

Today, October 26, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued a final rule that rescinds and replaces the Trump Administration’s 2020 rule establishing the current test for determining whether two entities are joint employers. This new rule will result in more findings that two entities are joint employers. Under federal labor law, a joint employer is required to bargain with a union selected by its jointly-employed workers and may be held liable for the unfair labor practices committed by the other employer.Continue Reading NLRB Returns to a More Expansive Joint Employer Standard

Maryland has enacted a paid family and medical leave insurance program that, starting in 2026, will provide most Maryland employees with 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, with the possibility of an additional 12 weeks of paid parental leave, as we have previously detailed in our E-lerts from April 12, 2023 and April 12, 2022. The Maryland Department of Labor (MDOL) was directed to issue regulations to interpret and implement the Act by January 1, 2024. The MDOL has begun the regulatory process, and its actions provide some insight into what the MDOL might be thinking on a variety of topics of specific interest to employers.Continue Reading What to Expect from Maryland’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Program

In two cases issued on August 31, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board greatly expanded the universe of employee activity protected by the National Labor Relations Act. This is the latest in a week-long flurry of pro-union/worker cases that have left employers, both unionized and not, reeling, including restrictions on unionized employers’ ability to act unilaterally, employers being subject to collective bargaining orders without a secret-ballot election, an expedited timeline for secret ballot elections, and affirmation of a test for determining when adverse action is motivated by protected conduct. Continue Reading The NLRB Vastly Expands the Parameters of Protected Concerted Activity

The U.S. Department of Labor has now issued its highly-anticipated proposed revision to the regulations governing which employees are exempt from the requirement to pay overtime for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. As expected, the proposed rule seeks to increase the salary levels for the statutory “white-collar” exemptions from overtime, meaning that up to 3.4 million more employees (according to the DOL) will be eligible for overtime pay.Continue Reading DOL Proposes New Overtime Rule To Increase the Required Salary Level for Exempt Employees

The National Labor Relations Board (the “Board” or “NLRB”) issued a final rule on August 24, 2023 that will drastically reduce the time between when a petition is filed – typically, by a union – and an election. This final rule is yet another instance of the Biden Board furthering union activities by changing existing case law or procedures to make it easier for unions to organize employees. The final rule goes into effect on December 26, 2023.Continue Reading NLRB Resuscitates “Quickie Election” Rules