Labor & Employment Developments Blog

On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” into law. Among its sweeping provisions are two significant changes for wage and hour compliance that employers should be aware of: the creation of federal income tax deductions for employee tips and certain overtime compensation. Both changes are poised to impact businesses and workers beginning in the 2025 tax year and lasting until 2028

On May 20, 2025, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its Site-Specific Targeting (SST) inspection program. The SST inspection program is OSHA’s primary planned inspection initiative for non-construction workplaces with 20 or more employees. The updates are expected to increase on-site inspections in highly regulated sectors, such as warehousing, transportation, distribution, and healthcare. For non-construction workplaces, this update marks a significant shift in how OSHA prioritizes enforcement, relying more heavily on employer-reported injury and illness data or the lack thereof.

Immigration enforcement by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has recently increased. Taking a proactive approach could help employers prepare to face immigration enforcement actions, such as raids or I-9 audits, and mitigate employer risks. The first step is for employers to understand and familiarize themselves with the differences between ICE audits and raids.

On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14159 ”Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” directing the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to ensure that foreign nationals comply with their duty to register with the government under section 262 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), and providing that failure to comply with the registration requirement is treated as a civil and criminal enforcement priority.

Under the INA, all foreign nationals 14 years of age or older who were not registered and fingerprinted ...

On March 19, 2025, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Justice issued guidance addressing unlawful discrimination related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) in the workplace. Although DEI is not defined in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it has recently come under significant scrutiny. This guidance was released two days after the EEOC sent correspondence to certain large law firms requesting information regarding DEI-related employment practices.

On January 22, 2025, Ohio Senators Louis W. Blessing (R-Colerain Township) and William P. DeMora (D-Columbus) introduced Senate Bill 11 (“SB 11”), which aims to prohibit certain post-employment agreements in the state of Ohio. If passed, this bipartisan bill would place Ohio among the minority of states with such legislation. As state lawmakers consider this departure from Ohio’s current stance of enforceability of these agreements, there are four key provisions employers should be aware of:

On March 10, 2025, Justice Clarence Thomas issued a dissent following the Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari for Ronald Hittle v. City of Stockton, California, 604 U.S.  ___ (2025), a religious discrimination case involving a fire chief terminated after attending a leadership conference at a church. In his dissent, Thomas, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, questioned whether it is time for the Court to revisit the longstanding McDonnell Douglas framework used in employment discrimination cases. 

In his first fifty days in office, President Trump has taken numerous actions to consolidate the power of the Executive Branch. Shortly after taking office, he dismissed heads of multiple Executive Branch agencies and asserted that agency leaders must align with his Administration’s objectives.  While President Trump’s authority to replace many Executive Branch officials is unquestioned, his authority to remove appointees to independent agencies is less clear.

Significant attention has been given to President Trump’s actions regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and policies, but the impact of those actions on private sector employees has not been clear. On his first two days in office, President Trump signed multiple executive orders addressing the use of DEI programs in government. One order, Executive Order 14151: Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing, directed executive agencies to terminate all DEI offices, positions, plans, initiatives, or similar programs. Another order, Executive Order 14173: Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, directed all executive departments and agencies to terminate any discriminatory or unlawful preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements. President Trump took this action citing his administration’s position that such policies violate the text and spirit of longstanding federal civil rights laws.

On February 14, 2025, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) acting General Counsel William B. Cowen rescinded several memoranda issued by the former NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. The rescinded memoranda include, GC 21-06 and GC 21-07 addressing remedies to be sought; GC 21-08 on the rights of student-athletes under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA); GC 23-02 on electronic monitoring; GC 23-05 on severance agreements; and GC 23-08 and GC 25-01 on non-compete agreements. The rescission of GC 23-5, GC 23-08 and GC 25-01 is significant for employers that use non-compete agreements in their employment or severance agreements.