Inflation Reduction Act
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act: Long Anticipated Final Rule Published by the EEOC
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final rule and interpretive guidance implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which became law on June 27, 2023. Employers previously relied on the EEOC’s proposed rule for guidance in implementing...
Federal Contractors Beware: New Hiring Restrictions Proposed on Companies Doing Business With the Federal Government
Earlier this week, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council proposed a new rule that would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to impose new restrictions on federal contractors and subcontractors, including: (1) prohibiting, seeking or considering an applicant’s compensation history; (2)...
EEOC Releases Proposed Workplace Harassment Guidance – 25 Years in the Making
On September 29, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its long-awaited proposed guidance on workplace harassment. The last EEOC guidance on workplace harassment was issued in 1999. The public will have until November 1, 2023, to comment on...
Fifth Circuit Expands Title VII Exposure for Employers
On August 18, 2023, in Hamilton v. Dallas County , the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc , expanded the circumstances under which an employer can be held liable for disparate treatment under Title VII...
What to Expect When You’re . . . Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Proposed Rules
On August 7, 2023, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued proposed rules for implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). Once published in the Federal Register, the public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed rules...
NLRB Revises Test for Evaluating Workplace Policies
On August 2, 2023, in Stericycle, Inc. (Stericycle), the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) revised the test for determining whether an employer’s workplace policies comply with the National Labor Relations Act (the NLRA). Stericycle reverses the Board’s 2017 decision...
Supreme Court “Clarifies” Employer Duty to Make Religious Accommodations
On June 29, 2023, in Groff v. DeJoy , the US Supreme Court unanimously adopted a new interpretation of the standard for when an employee’s religious accommodation poses an “undue hardship” for an employer under Title VII of the Civil...
Remote Work As An ADA Accomodation
For more than 20 years preceding the pandemic, federal courts were typically disinclined to require employers to allow remote work as an ADA reasonable accommodation. For instance, a variety of federal courts had long declared that generally an employee “who...
Webinar: ADA/Remote Work Accommodations
For more than 20 years preceding the pandemic, federal courts were typically disinclined to require employers to allow remote work as an ADA reasonable accommodation. For instance, a variety of federal courts had long declared that generally an employee “who...
NLRB Finds Employer's Use of Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Provisions in Separation Agreements Violated Federal Law
The National Labor Relations Board (the Board) which enforces the National Labor Relations Act (the Act) ruled this week that confidentiality of the agreement and non-disparagement provisions in the separation agreements for 11 terminated employees of a Michigan hospital impermissibly...
US Supreme Court: Highly Compensated Oilfield Workers Entitled to Overtime
In a closely watched case, 1 the United States Supreme Court held today that a tool pusher in the oil & gas industry, who was paid a day rate of at least $963.00 per day, was not exempt from the...
FTC Pursues Crackdown on Employee Noncompetes
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched unprecedented challenges to noncompete provisions in employment contracts through both rulemaking and individual enforcement actions. Proposed Rule to Ban Noncompetes Most significantly, on January 5, 2023, the FTC released a sweeping...
New Protections for Pregnant and Nursing Workers in 2023
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act), expanding federal protections for both pregnant and nursing workers. Pregnant Workers Fairness Act...
Unintended Consequences: Legal Compliance Concerns With Long-Term Remote Work Arrangements
Bracewell’s Amber Dodds and Bob Nichols look at potential unforeseen compliance and legal concerns with long-term remote work arrangements, including practical steps to address those issues.
IRS and Treasury Department Release Initial Guidance for Labor Requirements Under Inflation Reduction Act
On November 30, 2022, the IRS and the Treasury Department published Notice 2022-61 (the Notice) in the Federal Register. The Notice provides guidance regarding the prevailing wage requirements (the Prevailing Wage Requirements) and the apprenticeship requirements (the Apprenticeship Requirements and...