Labor & Employment Developments Blog

Nearly a month after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that fully vaccinated individuals no longer had to wear masks to combat COVID-19, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced its long awaited updated guidance on protecting workers. President Biden issued an executive order in January directing OSHA to pursue a clearer standard for COVID-19. The standard announced today applies only to the health-care industry. A copy of the new rule can be found here on OSHA’s website, with a summary available here.

As the President and Congress continue to debate the status of a new stimulus bill in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, one question on a lot of employers’ minds is what will happen to the status of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”).  As discussed previously on this blog, the FFCRA was passed in the early days of the pandemic as employers and employees faced uncertainty over how to respond to transmission of the virus, quarantine orders, and school closures.  The FFCRA created two new types of paid benefits—a paid sick leave benefit and a paid emergency Family ...

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, a new landmark ruling clarifying that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964—which prohibits workplace discrimination—applies to discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity.

Yesterday the Department of Labor announced its first round of published guidance to provide information to employees and employers about how each will be able to take advantage of the protections and relief offered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). This guidance has answered some of the most common questions we have been receiving since the law’s passage last week, but some questions remain as to how the leave will be administered. The Department is expect to announce further guidance as the week progresses. 

Yesterday, the federal government passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) in response to the challenges posed by the current COVID-19 outbreak. The legislation covers several areas, but critical for employers are two new sick leave benefits set to take effect no later than April 2, 2020.

The city of Cincinnati's salary history ban is set to take effect this Friday, March 13, 2020. Passed in 2019 in an effort to address gender and race-based pay discrepancies, the ordinance provided employers with one year to prepare for its implementation. 

On March 7^th, the Department of Labor revealed its proposal to revise the overtime requirements for workers across the country. The salary threshold at which employees can be eligible for overtime pay was last increased in 2004 during the George W. Bush Administration and set at the current level of $24,000 per year. In May of 2016, the Department of Labor under the Barack Obama Administration issued its own revisions to the overtime requirement, raising the salary threshold to $47,476 per year. These revisions were set to go into effect December 1, 2016, but Court challenges ...

A common provision in employment agreements may no longer be enforceable, at least for employers in Kentucky.

Earlier today the Supreme Court announced its decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, holding in a 5-4 split that arbitration agreements providing for individualized proceedings must be enforced. Arbitration provisions in employment contracts are quite common and often include language specifically limiting employees to individualized arbitration proceedings as opposed to class action proceedings or joint-arbitration.

What a difference a presidency makes. Under President Trump, the National Labor Relations Board is continuing to take steps to distance itself from some of the more controversial decisions it issued during the administration of President Barack Obama.  This latest action came on January 26, 2018, when the Board announced it was extending the deadline for filing responses to the Board's Request for Information, regarding the Board’s Representation Election Regulations.