Quick Hits Beginning July 1, 2024, nearly all recruiters and temporary help agencies working with businesses or candidates in Ontario will be required to have a licence, even if the recruiters and temporary help agencies are not located in Ontario. THAs and recruiters that apply by June 30, 2024, may…

Quick Hits Starting July 1, 2024, a new California law, SB 478, will prohibit businesses from adding automatic service charges onto consumer bills. Other states and federal agencies may soon restrict, or prohibit, businesses from using automatic service charges. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) No. 478 into…

Quick Hits The Maine Department of Labor issued proposed rules for the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, providing employers with initial clarification regarding covered employees, contribution amounts, substitution of private plans, and other facets of the law. The public comment period for the proposed rules is open through…

Quick Hits Maryland’s HB 1388 imposes greater restrictions on Maryland employers entering noncompete and conflict of interest agreements with both health care and veterinary professionals. HB 1388 prohibits restrictions for certain employees who are required to be licensed under the Health Occupations Article and certain employees who are licensed as…

Quick Hits The Illinois legislature passed SB2979 to clarify that multiple alleged collections or disseminations of an individual’s biometrics constitute only a single violation of the Privacy Act and the individual is limited to only one recovery of statutory damages. Once signed, the bill will reverse a holding by the…

Quick Hits The DOL is enforcing child labor laws through two key mechanisms: (1) preventing employers from shipping or profiting from “hot goods” and (2) assessing aggregate civil money penalties. An August 2023 DOL field assistance bulletin advises field agents on identifying violations of “oppressive child labor” and applying the…

Quick Hits With Governor Jared Polis’s signing into law SB 24-205, Colorado becomes the first U.S. state to enact comprehensive legislation regulating the use and development of AI systems. The law addresses, among other things, the risk of algorithmic discrimination “arising from the intended and contracted uses of … high-risk…

Quick Hits The Supreme Court held that Section 3 of the FAA requires federal courts to grant stays of lawsuits after claims are sent to arbitration, if a stay is requested. The ruling resolves a 6–4 circuit split regarding whether federal district courts must stay lawsuits pending arbitration or whether…

Quick Hits OFCCP released its first detailed guidance on federal contractors’ use of AI and automated systems. The guidance instructs federal contractors to routinely monitor whether AI and automated systems have a disparate or adverse impact on protected groups and take actions to reduce those impacts or use different tools.…

Quick Hits The New Jersey Supreme Court invalidated an otherwise valid settlement agreement solely because the agreement contained a “non-disparagement provision,” the scope of which the court found “would bar individuals from describing an employer’s discriminatory conduct” in violation of NJLAD. The court held that the non-disparagement provision was broad…

Quick Hits June 2, 2024, and October 1, 2024, are mandatory holidays due to federal elections in Mexico and the presidential inauguration day. Employees who work on mandatory holidays are entitled to two times their daily wage in addition to their normal salary for that day. Employers must respect and…

 Current LawExpansion Under Public Act No. 24-8 Effective January 1, 2025 (Unless Otherwise Noted)Covered EmployeesThe current law applies to “service workers,” who are defined as employees in certain occupations identified in the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Standard Occupational Classification system.The expanded law applies to all employees, including seasonal employees…

Quick Hits The EB-1 and EB-2 final action dates remain unchanged for all countries of chargeability. The EB-3 final action date for India retrogressed eight days, while all other countries of chargeability remain unchanged. USCIS has confirmed it will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications based on the final action…

Quick Hits Comprehensive workplace safety legislation proposed in the New York State Senate would require retail employers to assess potential workplace violence hazards and develop and implement comprehensive written workplace violence plans. Among other requirements, retail employers with fifty or more employees nationwide would have to install panic buttons to…

Quick Hits The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division published new field assistance guiding its field staff on the implications of employers’ increasing use of automated systems and AI technologies. The guidance cautions that while such technologies have workplace benefits, human oversight is necessary to avoid results that violate federal labor…

Quick Hits On April 29, 2024, three separate lawsuits were filed challenging the 2024 Title IX regulations: (1) Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho filed one lawsuit in the Western District of Louisiana; (2) Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina filed a second lawsuit in the Northern District of Alabama; and…

Quick Hits Retailers with at least 300 or more employees worldwide and that have employees in the County of Los Angeles will be required to provide their employees with predictable schedules. The county ordinance is similar to a City of Los Angeles ordinance that took effect in April 2023. The…

Quick Hits Minnesota lawmakers are attempting to secure enough votes ahead of this year’s legislative session deadline to place numerous bills on the governor’s desk, many of which, if enacted, will affect employers. Bills address drug testing, earned sick and safe time, pay transparency in job postings, wage deductions for…

On April 11, 2024, the Illinois Senate passed Senate Bill (SB) 2979, which would stop statutory damages under the Privacy Act from accruing for each unlawful collection or dissemination of an individual’s biometric information. Quick Hits The Illinois legislature is considering a bill that would amend the Privacy Act to…

The pilot program, entitled “Pilot Program on Voluntary Self-Disclosures for Individuals,” increases transparency regarding the circumstances under which prosecutors will offer leniency to cooperating witnesses and other individuals through use of a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) when they report potential criminal misconduct involving corporations. Quick Hits The DOJ launched a new…

Quick Hits Final privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) set basic limitations on the use or disclosure by covered entities (such as employer health benefit plans) and their business associates of reproductive health care information. The final rules state that reproductive care is,…

The first article in this series provided a general overview of the OSH Act and OSHA; the second article examined OSHA’s rulemaking process; the third article reviewed an employer’s duty to comply with standards; and the fourth article discussed the general duty clause. This article addresses OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements. Quick…

Quick Hits Beginning April 1, 2024, USCIS service centers stopped accepting paper-filed I-129 petitions requesting H-1B and H-1B1 classification, instead requiring petitioners to file at designated lockbox facilities. As a result, the filing volume at USCIS lockboxes has increased, and USCIS has now confirmed that it is experiencing delays in…

Quick Hits Restrictions on contact have been modified to eliminate mutual no-contact orders as the default. Supportive measure decisions are appealable. Procedures for emergency removal of a student respondent and placement of an employee respondent on administrative leave have been clarified. The final regulations take effect on August 1, 2024.…

Quick Hits The EEOC issued a final version of new guidance for employers clarifying its positions on the applications of federal laws prohibiting harassment and retaliation. The new guidance is the first update to the EEOC’s workplace harassment guidance since 1999 and incorporates several new developments in the law and…

Quick Hits DHS announced relaxed employment authorization standards for Ethiopian and Palestinian F-1 students who are eligible for work authorization. During the school year, work-authorized Ethiopian and Palestinian F-1 students may increase the number of hours worked and reduce their school course load. Students who utilize this benefit will still…

Quick Hits The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that a retailer’s commission-based compensation plan violated the Massachusetts Wage Act by paying commission-based sales employees their overtime and Sunday premium pay out of their earned commissions. The retailer used a compensation plan that functioned like an advance…

Quick Hits A surge in NJ WARN notices issued in the months prior to the April 10, 2023, effective date of the amendments suggests employers expedited terminations to avoid the new mandatory severance requirements of the amended law. At least three significant NJ WARN lawsuits are pending that may resolve…

Quick Hits The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case over whether federal courts have discretion to dismiss lawsuits once the claims are compelled to arbitration. The decision could resolve a 6-4 circuit split with the majority holding that district courts must stay lawsuits pending arbitration, and a minority…

Quick Hits Washington State enacted a law that regulates employers’ use of production quotas or standards for workers at warehouse distribution centers. The law applies to employers that employ or otherwise engage, whether directly or indirectly, more than (1) 100 or more nonexempt employees in a single warehouse distribution center,…

The final regulations amend § 34 C.F.R. 106.1, et seq. According to a statement from the Department announcing the final rule, “The unofficial version of the final regulations is available here. In addition, the Department has released a fact sheet, a summary of the major provisions of the 2024 Title…

Quick Hits A judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a preliminary injunction enjoining actions to enforce the “equivalent benefits” provisions of DTLSA. The equal pay provisions of Section 42 of the DTLSA were not subject to the injunction and went into effect on…

Quick Hits The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, held that a former employee had “a viable claim” that his employer had “diverted a portion of his wages in violation of the [NJ]WPL by requiring he use his personal vehicle and not reimbursing him for costs associated with that…

Quick Hits Employer contributions to Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Fund are set to begin on January 1, 2025. The Maine Department of Labor is expected to begin the rulemaking process in spring 2024. The state has given itself a deadline of January 1, 2025, to adopt final…

Quick Hits The FTC will hold an Open Commission Meeting on April 23, 2024, on its proposed rule that would ban noncompetes. The proposed rule would prohibit the use of noncompete clauses and preempt all state laws providing lesser protection than the proposed rule. The proposed rule would apply to…

Quick Hits Minnesota lawmakers are working on bills addressing drug testing, earned sick and safe time, pay transparency in job postings, restrictive employment covenants in service contracts, and unemployment benefits for striking workers. The legislative session adjourns on May 20, 2024. In our March 27, 2024, legislative update article, several…

Quick Hits Federal financial regulators are targeting employers for employees’ use of personal text messages or off-channel communications to discuss business, alleging it may violate recordkeeping rules. The actions raise concerns for financial employers given the increased use of personal electronic communications platforms and of the popularity of bring-your-own-device policies.…

Quick Hits The EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 final action dates will remain unchanged for all countries of chargeability. USCIS has confirmed it will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications based on the final action dates chart for the May 2024 Visa Bulletin. The EB-4 Certain Religious Workers category is extended…

Quick Hits USCIS recently announced that it has updated its definition for “Schedule A, Group II” occupations. USCIS has now clarified that Schedule A, Group II “Sciences or Arts” occupations include occupations in any field of knowledge and/or skill for which colleges and universities commonly offer courses leading to a…

Quick Hits USCIS extended the automatic extension period for eligible EADs from up to 180 days to up to 540 days for applicants who timely and properly filed their Form I-765 applications. The eligible applicants are those who filed their Form I-765 1) on or after October 27, 2023 and…