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The Department of Labor’s 2016 Final Fiduciary and Conflict of Interest Rule: The Best Interest Contract Exemption

May 25, 2016 | Blog

Last month the U.S. Department of Labor published a suite of final regulations governing the fiduciary status of, and prescribing conflict of interest rules that apply to, persons who provide investment advice to ERISA-covered retirement plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
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Federal Court Allows the EEOC to Conduct Investigation on Employer’s Premises Without Employer Consent or a Warrant

May 24, 2016 | Blog | By Dan Long

Many employers are familiar with the fact that the EEOC regularly conducts on-site workplace investigations after receiving charges of discrimination or harassment.
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Law360: In The ACA Age, Employee Handbooks Can Help — Or Hurt

May 20, 2016 | Blog | By Patricia Moran

My colleague Patricia Moran, wrote a Law360 article entitled In The ACA Age, Employee Handbooks Can Help — Or Hurt as a follow up to her latest post, Have You Reviewed your Employee Handbook for Affordable Care Act Compliance? In the article, Moran urges employers to review their health and welfare benefit documentation for ACA compliance.
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Same-Day Delivery Companies: 2; MA Independent Contractor Statute: 0. First Circuit Once Again Upholds Classification of Couriers as Independent Contractors

May 20, 2016 | Blog

Relying on its precedent, the First Circuit Court of Appeals held for the second time this year that the Federal Aviation Administrative Authorization Act of 1994 (“FAAAA”) preempts application of the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Statute, M.G.L. c. 149, Section 148B, to couriers working for Federal Express and other same-day delivery companies.
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Where do the DOL’s New FLSA White-Collar Overtime Regulations Leave Non-Profits and Educational Institutions?

May 19, 2016 | Blog | By Erin Horton

Over the course of this and next week, we will discuss the final overtime rule’s impact and address related workplace issues on which employers should focus in advance of its December 1st implementation date.  Today we focus on the rule’s impact on non-profits and educational institutions. 
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OSHA’s New Electronic Reporting and Retaliation Rules Will Make Your Company’s Workplace Injury Reports Accessible to the Public

May 19, 2016 | Blog | By Alta Ray

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule aimed at updating the way it collects data and preventing workplace injuries and illnesses.
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Innocents Abroad: Privacy considerations for employees working abroad

May 18, 2016 | Blog | By Cynthia Larose

I understand that one of your employees will be engaging a six-month temporary assignment around Europe to scope market opportunities, and you’d like to have a better understanding of what to be thinking about in terms of privacy.  Great question!
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The DOL Releases Its Final Rule Updating the FLSA White-Collar Overtime Regulations

May 18, 2016 | Blog | By David Barmak, Jill Collins

The wait is over! This morning, the Department of Labor announced its Final Rule, which is aimed at expanding overtime eligibility for millions of American workers. At its core, the final version of the rule doubled the minimum salary employers must pay “white collar” workers to maintain their exempt status.
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Marketplace: Millions More White-collar Workers Could Get Overtime

May 17, 2016 | Blog

My colleague David Barmak was featured in the NPR program, Marketplace in which he examines the negative implications of changing the white-collar overtime rules so that more white-collar workers are eligible for overtime. The program provides an overview of the rule and its impact on the wage gap and service industry.
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The Department of Labor’s 2016 Final Fiduciary and Conflict of Interest Regulations: The New Fiduciary Standard

May 12, 2016 | Blog

With this post, we begin our substantive explanation of the Department of Labor’s suite of final fiduciary and conflict of interest regulations. For the financial services industry, and for the retirement plans and IRAs, there are game-changing rules.
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Does an Employer have to Accommodate a Nondisabled Employee Because of Another’s Disability? Yes, Says One California State Appellate Court

May 12, 2016 | Blog | By Natalie C. Groot

Last month, a California state appellate court issued a decision that, as the dissent characterized, went “where no one has gone before.
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Clearly Defining the Essential Functions of the Job Can Make or Break An ADA Case

May 10, 2016 | Blog

As a recent federal appellate decision confirmed, the Americans with Disabilities Act does not require employers to always accommodate a disabled employee.  Instead, it is the employee’s burden to first show that he or she can perform the essential functions of the job with said accommodation.
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Pescetarian’s Delight: Ninth Circuit Extends Non-Compete Term Beyond Contractual Period

May 10, 2016 | Blog | By Robert Sheridan

Does this sound familiar: employee disregards a non-compete and joins a competitor; former company calls foul and initiates a lawsuit; parties fight it out, but by the time litigation has run its course, the non-compete period in the underlying contract has expired.  The dispute is moot, right?
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Fifth Circuit Holds Third Party Witness’ Retaliation Claim Requires “Reasonable Belief” That a Title VII Violation Has Occurred

May 5, 2016 | Blog | By George Patterson

The Fifth Circuit recently held that a third party witness who was fired after providing information in response to her employer’s investigation of a coworker’s harassment allegations had to demonstrate she had a “reasonable belief” that the conduct she reported violated Title VII in order to prove her retaliation claim.
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NYC Ban on Caregiver Status Discrimination is Now in Effect; Employers Must Think Carefully About its Impact

May 5, 2016 | Blog

The New York City Human Rights Law now prohibits discrimination based on an individual’s actual or perceived status as a caregiver.  Below, we briefly summarize the law and gauge its potential impact on the workplace.
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Have You Reviewed your Employee Handbook for Affordable Care Act Compliance?

May 4, 2016 | Blog | By Patricia Moran

Even though the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate is in effect and fully phased-in, it has been our experience that few employers have bothered to review their employee handbooks to reflect the ACA.  Below we discuss how employers may bolster their ACA compliance (and avoid ACA penalties) through an ACA-focused employee handbook review.
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Trade Secrets Going Federal

April 29, 2016 | Blog | By David Katz

Yesterday, in an overwhelming 410-2 bipartisan vote, the US House of Representatives passed the Hatch-Coons Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), which would for the first time federalize trade secrets law and provide uniformity (and hopefully predictability) to what has, until this point, been a patchwork area of law applied disparately among the states.
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Dodd-Frank and Executive Compensation - Part 1: Status Update

April 28, 2016 | Blog | By Alexander Song

It’s been over five years since the signing of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act (“Dodd-Frank”) and we are still waiting for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to finalize rules on several provisions related to executive compensation.  Below is a summary of the current landscape of Dodd-Frank as it relates to key executive compensation provisions.
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Work Rules Hanging in the Balance? NLRB Dissenter Proposes Balancing Test Blueprint for Work Rule Challenges, a Significant Departure from Board Precedent

April 27, 2016 | Blog | By David Katz

Earlier this month, the NLRB struck down a couple of facially-neutral workplace civility rules in an employer’s Code of Conduct.  Ho hum, business as usual.
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Uber Aims to Settle Two Class Actions; Approximately 385,000 Uber Drivers in California and Massachusetts to Remain Independent Contractors – At Least for Now

April 26, 2016 | Blog

Last Thursday, Uber settled two closely-watched class actions contesting Uber’s classification of approximately 385,000 drivers in California and Massachusetts as independent contractors as opposed to employees.
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