The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) has emerged as a crucial lifeline for businesses grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. As deadlines loom on the horizon, it becomes imperative for businesses to grasp the intricacies of the ERC, ensuring a correct and timely claim.

The State of Washington has been a leader in pay transparency law.  The Equal Pay and Opportunities Act prohibits gender pay discrimination by addressing business practices that contribute to income disparities between genders.  Further, all pay ranges and benefits for a job advertisement must be in the posting.   Specifically, a “posting” is defined as any solicitation, including recruitment done directly by an employer or indirectly through a third...

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has ushered in significant changes to the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) standards. This final rule, effective October 23, 2023, comprised of hundreds of pages, is poised to impact over one million construction workers. Alongside the comprehensive revisions, the DOL has released a set of Frequently Asked Questions to guide stakeholders through the intricacies of the updated regulations.

ASE has advised on this in the past but with the current state of social media use and the growing rancor and divisiveness in society we remind employers again: employers do have rights when it comes to its employees’ off-work verbal and social media communications.

On October 30, 2023, President Biden issued the Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (EO).  The EO is a sweeping directive to government agencies to coordinate on all aspects of AI.  As the EO states in Section 1:

The U.S 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a case can go to trial on whether an employer was required to provide an accommodation to an employee that had difficulty driving at night and whose shift ended at 9:00 p.m.  According to the court, the main question before it is whether the employee was entitled to a modified work schedule as an accommodation to make his commute safer.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is looking at an employer’s delivery driver expense plan. Under federal law a business can reimburse delivery drivers through a reasonable approximation of their expenses rather than using a mileage expense method, as long as the total reimbursement, along with any wages does not reduce the driver’s take home pay below minimum wage.

In short, yes, employees who telework are eligible for Family Medical Leave Act/ FMLA leave on the same basis as employees who report to any other worksite to perform their job.  An employee who has worked for an employer for at least 12 months, has at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave, and works at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles is eligible for FMLA leave.

On Friday October 26th the NLRB promulgated their final rule on joint employment.  The rule replaces a 2020 policy that excused alleged joint employers from bargaining unless workers could show they had "direct and immediate control."  This policy, according to the majority of NLRB members, was "contrary to the common-law agency principles that must govern the joint-employer standard" under the National Labor Relations Act.   

Non-compete agreements, where employees agree that they will not go to work for another competing business or form a competing business that in turn increases the competition for the employer, have been around for a long time. Non-compete agreements typically specify a period of time the employee is barred from working for a competitor or going into business for themselves. They may also specify a geographic area that the non-compete prevents the person from working within. Scope and who is...

On Monday October 2, 2023, the EEOC released its new proposed Harassment Guidance for comment to the public.  Comments must be in by November 1, 2023. 

Last Wednesday attendees at ASE’s Employment Law Briefing received excellent information about a myriad of pending and new employment and labor compliance issues including the recently enacted Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (PWFA). Among many recent employment and labor law developments, Anne-Marie V. Welch, Labor and Employment Partner at Clark Hill PLC addressed the PWFA. At about the same time last week EEOC legal counsel Carol Miaskoff was providing new information and guidance on...

Since 1966 private employers with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees and that meet certain criteria are required to report annually the number of individuals they employ by job category, sex, and race or ethnicity.  The EEO-1 report, although filed in 2023, is for the 2022 year.  So, the report is called 2022 EEO-1 Component 1.

Earlier this year the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued proposed rules prohibiting the use of non-compete agreements with most employees. Non-compete agreements restrict an employee from leaving an employer and taking another job – usually but not always – in the same business, for a specific period of time and within a limited geographic area. Historically the purpose of non-compete agreements was to protect confidential information about a business from being poached by a...

As reported last week, on August 30, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced it is proposing a revised rule that will increase its Salary Level Test by revising part of the Exemption Tests in its regulations. To be classified as an exempt employee under the DOL regulations, the job must meet three tests as outlined by the FLSA regulations:

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program’s new scheduling letter.  The updated scheduling letter applies to supply and service compliance evaluations scheduled on or after August 24, 2023.

Charlene Carter was a flight attendant at Southwest.  She allegedly claimed that she was fired because she objected to her union's participation in a protest for which Planned Parenthood was a sponsor.  Prior to that, Carter sent repeated messages on social media to the president of Carter's flight attendant union, expressing outrage over the union president’s alleged pro-abortion beliefs. The union president attended the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C....

Early last week the Department of Labor issued notice of proposed regulations that provide employers guidance on how to comply with the newly enacted Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA took effect June 27, 2023, and applies to employers with 15 or more employees.

Not unexpectedly, last week the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) changed its work rule test. The NLRB’s work rule test assesses whether particular employer policies (rules) illegally restrict workers’ rights. The Biden labor Board, now comprised of his appointees, and its General Counsel stated that since this Administration came into office, it would be reviewing many Trump-era labor rules and this rule in particular.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued final regulations on August 4, 2023, that essentially gut the 2020 rule on Predetermination Notices (PDN).  Essentially, the new rule takes out all transparency of the conciliation process. 

It used to be inadvisable to cover unionized workers under the policies of an employee handbook. This was because the collective bargaining agreement was the policy/rule book for that set of employees. For some time now, some employers that have both union and non-union workers have included the union employees as covered by the handbook by including handbook disclaimer statements addressing this. The disclaimer statement would be put at the front of the handbook or many times throughout the...

It is crucial for employers to remain vigilant and up to date on the ADA's provisions to ensure they provide equal opportunities and accommodations for their employees. By understanding the ADA's requirements, employers can avoid unintentional discrimination and ensure that they provide reasonable accommodations to individuals enabling them to fully participate in the workforce. Failure to comply with the ADA can lead to costly and time-consuming litigation.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that an updated Form I-9 will be available August 1, 2023. This will replace its Form I-9 that has been in use since October 2019.  Since November of 1986, employers hiring any person to perform labor or services in the United States must have a completed I-9 form on file for that employee.

With the enactment of both the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) effective June 27, 2023, and the Nursing Mothers Act also known as the PUMP Act, covered employers should consider adding new policies to communicate compliance and inform employees what they are providing them as a result of those laws.

The Colorado legislature has passed the Ensure Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, amending the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEW) to clarify and enhance an employer’s obligations relating to the announcement of a promotional opportunity.  The effective date is January 1, 2024.  Why does this matter to Michigan employers?  Because Michigan is seemingly taking all of the progressive employment initiatives throughout the country and trying to pass them into law...