Business, Management, Marketing, Money, Tax, Law, People

Quick Hits On December 19, 2025, the FTC announced an enforcement action against business-to-business no-poach practices and issued a proposed order that would require building services contractor Adamas Amenity Services LLC and its affiliated businesses (Adamas) to cease enforcement of their anticompetitive no-hire agreements. The order was finalized on February 12, 2026. This latest action, which mirrors two prior enforcement actions of the same type against Planned Building Services and…

Quick Hits The OECD’s November 2025 update to the Model Tax Convention introduces a new two-part framework for assessing permanent establishment (PE) risks from cross-border remote work, including a 50 percent working time safe harbor and a “commercial reason” test. No automatic PE arises from mere employee-driven remote work in another country, providing relief for multinational employers managing hybrid and distributed teams. Employers may want to track working time splits…

Quick Hits Despite repeated requests from multiple courts, the administration has yet to articulate what distinguishes lawful DEI programs from those that the federal government believes violate antidiscrimination laws, leaving employers without clear compliance guidance. Federal contractors and money recipients that cannot certify compliance face potential False Claims Act liability, including treble damages, civil investigative demands, and possible criminal exposure—consequences far exceeding traditional antidiscrimination enforcement. The Seventh Circuit panel signaled…

Quick Hits On February 6, 2026, the Fourth Circuit held that the plaintiffs’ facial challenges in National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education v. Trump to President Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders (EOs) were unlikely to succeed, but the court did not validate the administration’s enforcement practices, did not endorse its interpretation of anti-discrimination law, and did not define what constitutes “unlawful DEI.” The certification provision in EO 14173 applicable…

Quick Hits Federal contractors must distinguish between contracts entered into before January 30, 2022 (subject to Executive Order (EO) 13658 and DOL’s annual indexed increases), and those entered into on or after that date, which were governed by EO 14026 prior to its revocation. Even though DOL is no longer enforcing EO 14026, contractors remain bound by existing contract clauses unless modified by the contracting officer and must comply with…

Quick Hits The EEOC issued FAQs to assist federal agencies in implementing President Trump’s return-to-office order in compliance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the federal sector analog to the ADA. As private employers implement return-to-office policies, the EEOC’s FAQs provide useful guidance for managing telework accommodation requests under the ADA. Employers may re-evaluate existing telework arrangements for individual employees and modify or rescind them, depending on the availability and…

Quick Hits On February 13, 2026, Cal/OSHA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement the “walkaround rule,” which would allow additional employee and employer representatives during inspections. The proposed regulation introduces a framework for involving employer and employee representatives, including third parties, during inspections, raising concerns about potential contentious and adversarial environments. The draft regulation follows the federal OSHA walkaround rule and includes provisions for additional representatives, inspector authority,…

Quick Hits Governor Abbott has directed Texas public institutions of higher education and state agencies to freeze the initiation or filing of any “new” H-1B petitions for foreign employees until May 31, 2027. Governor Abbott has also directed the impacted state agencies and university institutions to provide H-1B sponsorship data to the Texas Workforce Commission. This directive appears to impact “new” H-1B visas sought by state government agencies and public…

Quick Hits The Third Circuit explained that challenges to diversity efforts must prove both a discriminatory purpose and impact to trigger strict scrutiny and found sufficient evidence that the district’s policy aimed to alter the racial makeup of its selective high schools. The court emphasized that it is unconstitutional for schools to seek specific racial percentages or racial balancing, and that even race-neutral criteria like zip codes can be scrutinized…

Quick Hits A proposed class action alleges that a widely-used AI-powered tool violates the federal FCRA and California’s ICRAA by compiling sensitive, individualized personal information on job applicants without their consent.  The complaint contends that by evaluating applicants based on extensive data sources—such as LinkedIn profiles, publications, and job application history—the tool generates consumer reports subject to the disclosure, authorization, notification, and certification requirements of both statutes. The lawsuit could…

Quick Hits The FTC negotiated a ten-year consent order with an employer to end the employer’s enforcement of blanket noncompete agreements against nearly 1,800 employees. The consent order mandates that the employer notify employees and former employees that the company’s noncompete agreements are no longer effective, cease enforcement of those agreements, and provide ongoing compliance reporting to the FTC for a decade. The consent order comes after the Trump administration…