Daylight Savings Time ends November 1: When clocks are turned back an hour in the early morning on November 1st workers on the midnight shift at that time will actually work an extra hour. Assuming that these workers are nonexempt employees, meaning that they are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), they must be paid for all hours worked. The end of daylight savings time can have overtime pay implications as well. Generally, nonexempt employees are entitled to overtime pay for all hours in excess of 40 worked during the week. Employees who work an extra hour during the conversion to standard time may go over the 40-hour mark for the workweek and are thus entitled to the higher overtime pay rate for that time. For a copy of the ASE end of daylight savings time poster, click here.

Do you have a policy against side hustles? Side hustles took off during and after the pandemic, when remote work gave Americans more flexibility to monetize their time. Even as more companies issued return-to-office mandates, side hustles stuck around. At 35%, more than a third of U.S. workers reported having one, or working multiple jobs, ZipRecruiter found after surveying 3,000 Americans earlier this year. Day jobs keep employees afloat, but side hustles create financial wiggle room in their budgets to help them save money or enjoy life at a time when, according to research from Ally Bank, inflation and the cost of living has Americans feeling "joy pressured" and guilty for spending on things that make them happy.  Side hustles also serve as a layer of protection. Workers say they have become a financial strategy – not only to support discretionary spending and their ability to save, but also as a safeguard against economic uncertainty as they fear layoffs and long, full-time job searches. For some, side hustles provide a reliable "plan B" after a job loss as economists say the U.S. labor market remains in "low-hire" mode.  Source: USAToday 10/26/26

Race discrimination claims arise of drug tests: Coal Bed Services and its parent company, Pate Holdings, should face trial over two Black laborers’ discrimination claims, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Sept. 1. The evidence raised jury questions over whether the Alabama companies subjected workers to “strikingly different treatment” based on their race, according to the ruling in Guthrie v. Coal Bed Services, Inc.  The laborers testified that supervisors refused to call them by their names, assigned them “dirtier” work than White employees and failed to give them the same opportunities to develop skills, according to the court opinion. Shortly after they complained to their direct supervisor, he ordered their team to take a drug test or be fired. The laborers and a White co-worker refused and walked off the site. Coal Bed rehired the co-worker the next day but allegedly stonewalled the laborers in their attempts to get their jobs back, according to court documents. Even if the White co-worker wasn’t similarly situated in a material way because he had more experience and different duties, the laborers could still take their case to trial based on a “convincing mosaic” of evidence suggesting the companies intentionally engaged in race discrimination, the 11th Circuit said. Source: HR Dive 9/4/26

Mexico reducing working hour requirements from 48 to 40 hours per week: In 2024, Mexico expressly amended Article 21 of the General Law to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Crimes Related to Human Trafficking and for the Protection and Assistance of Victims of these Crimes to include working hours exceeding the limits established by law among the circumstances associated with labor exploitation. This legislation distinguishes between labor exploitation, regulated under Article 21, and forced labor or services, regulated under Article 22, creating a specific legal framework to identify and sanction conduct that goes beyond ordinary labor non-compliance. In addition, Mexico has amended the statutory maximum working week, reducing it from 48 to 40 hours through a gradual implementation process that will conclude in 2030, reducing by two working hours each year until 40 hours per week is reached. This amendment also establishes new limits on overtime and introduces an obligatory electronic working-time record intended to document the hours worked by each employee. As a result, employers with operations in Mexico should expect increased scrutiny and labor inspections by Mexican authorities to verify compliance with employment obligations. At the same time, U.S. trade pressure will continue to play an important role in this scrutiny, particularly as discussions advance in connection with the USMCA review. Source: L&E Global 9/1/26

Private false claims cases (FCA) claims upheld as constitutional:  In United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, the Eleventh Circuit vacated a district court decision that had declared the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) unconstitutional under the Appointments Clause. The panel held that private relators who bring FCA suits on behalf of the government are not “Officers of the United States” because they do not occupy a “continuing” position and therefore need not be presidentially appointed. For now, qui tam litigation in the Eleventh Circuit proceeds as before. The Fifth Circuit (en banc) and the Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits had already rejected the same challenge, so the panel breaks no new ground.  The ruling lands in a period of aggressive FCA enforcement: FY2025 recoveries hit a record $6.8 billion, whistleblowers filed a record 1,297 qui tam suits, and roughly $5.3 billion of those recoveries came from qui tam matters. Federal contractors need to be careful with FCA claims, especially with DEI or any diversity initiatives. Source: Seyfarth 9/8/26

LinkedIn: where you can find love: While LinkedIn’s guidelines strictly forbid any kind of romantic advances, it’s increasingly common for the networking site to feature—directly or indirectly—In users’ dating lives. Tired of the endless roulette of online dating, more people are looking for love on LinkedIn. About one in four professionals believe using LinkedIn as a dating tool can be acceptable, according to a survey by Zety, a resume-template platform. And 22% said they had either reached out or responded to someone on LinkedIn with romantic intent. A deepening exhaustion with dating apps has pushed many to look beyond swiping. Singles are trying speed dating, connecting through shared real-world interests and even using spreadsheets to break their dating algorithm. It shouldn’t be a surprise that a public-facing platform with clear headshots and ample information about a person’s path in life—everything dating apps today seem to lack—has become a go-to tool in the modern search for love. Of course, none of this is condoned by the networking app itself. “Our focus is on making sure that people are safe from unwanted romantic advances,” a LinkedIn spokesperson said. Source: Wall Street Journal 8/19/26