New $103,265 fee for H-1B applicants proposed: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed a new $103,265 fee for every H-1B application subject to the annual “cap” lottery. If finalized, the fee would be payable when the petition is filed and would apply in addition to all existing H-1B filing fees and other required payments. This is only a proposal, and the new fee is not yet required. The fee would apply to all H-1B petitions subject to the annual H-1B cap and is not dependent on where the employee is located, whether in the U.S. at the time of applying or not. Any employer with an H-1B cap registration selected in the lottery for an employee would have to pay this fee when filing the H-1B petition. Employers exempt from the lottery – including universities, affiliated nonprofits, and governmental and nonprofit research organizations – would not have to pay the fee. Cap-exempt H-1B applications, such as extensions or amendments, would also not be subject to the fee. Source: Silberman Law 8/26/26
DOJ settles 2nd False Claims Act based on DEI: The Justice Department announced another False Claims Act resolution secured under the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, which was launched by the Department in May 2025 against Deloitte LLP, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, and Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP, (collectively, Deloitte). They have agreed to pay the United States $21.5 million for failing to comply with anti-discrimination requirements in its federal contracts and discriminating against employees and applicants on the basis of their race or sex. The complaint alleged that Deloitte took race or sex into account when making hiring, promotion, and staffing decisions to achieve progress toward non-public race and sex-based workforce composition goals. Business units within Deloitte received monthly summaries tracking the demographic goals within the unit, where representation or advancement toward the goal was highlighted in green, yellow, or red depending on whether the goal was exceeded, met or slightly missed, or significantly below the goal. It further alleged that Deloitte set goals pertaining to the demographics of employees staffed to federal contracts, and sought to make statistically equal the percentage of Deloitte identified Under Represented Minorities (URMs) and non-URMs who were understaffed or “on the bench. This was the second settlement after IBM case. Source: Department of Justice 8/25/26
Employer responsible for employee’s road rage incident: In a July 23, 2026, opinion, a federal court in Pennsylvania denied Walmart's motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by and on behalf of the family of a man who was fatally shot on May 31, 2024, by a Walmart employee who was operating a company vehicle at the time of the incident. According to the complaint, the shooting occurred on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and, at the time, the Walmart employee was acting within the course and scope of his employment. It alleges that Walmart failed to properly hire, train, and supervise the employee, despite allegedly knowing or having reason to know of dangerous tendencies that ultimately led to the fatal encounter. Ruling against Walmart’s motion to dismiss, the court noted that the complaint alleges that the shooter was a Walmart employee, was operating a Walmart vehicle, and was performing work-related duties when the events unfolded. Those allegations, the judge said, are sufficient at this early stage to support a plausible inference of an employment relationship. For employers that have employees driving company vehicles, road rage prevention training should be on the list for training. Source: CCH 7/29/26
Healthcare offerings a retention edge: Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. workers say they’re staying in a job they dislike because they’re worried about losing their health insurance, according to a report published this week. Among respondents with personal or household medical debt, 44% said they’re staying at a job they want to leave for health coverage, compared with only 21% of those without medical debt. Health status also plays a role, according to the research. Nearly 30% of workers who said they had one or more chronic conditions reported staying in a job for coverage, and more than 40% with three or more chronic conditions did so. Only 17% of those without chronic conditions said they held onto a job for coverage. The number of workers reporting “job lock” is up from just five years ago, when 1 in 6 said they stayed in a job they would otherwise leave to keep their health benefits, according to the study published by West Health and Gallup. The rise comes as premiums, drug costs, and out-of-pocket healthcare spending has climbed in recent years, increasing the financial risk of leaving an employer’s health plan, researchers wrote. Meanwhile, turmoil on the Affordable Care Act exchanges could convince some Americans that nonemployer coverage is unaffordable. Source: HR Dive 7/22/26
Travel between home and work in middle of day not compensable: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued Opinion Letter FLSA2026-9 on July 22, 2026, addressing whether travel between an employee’s home and office during the middle of the workday is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The letter concludes that, in all three scenarios presented, travel between home and a primary worksite may be excluded from hours worked, even where the employee performs work at both locations and the mid-day travel is offered as a voluntary alternative to unpaid commuter travel that would otherwise occur before or after the employee’s workday. Because such midday travel would qualify as “ordinary” or “normal” commuter travel—which is not considered hours worked under the FLSA—employers need not record such travel as "work" and the travel would generally not be subject to wage and hour requirements. Source: Wage and Hour Division, Opinion Letter FLSA2026-9 , 7/22/26.