Employment

That’s what DOL Solicitor of Labor, M. Patricia Smith, reportedly said at the 2016 American Bar Association’s Midwinter Meeting.  But remember: she also said at another conference in November 2015 that the DOL was targeting a “late 2016” release date, while the DOL Labor Secretary, Thomas Perez, told Bloomberg BNA in December 2015 that he expected a spring 2016 release.

As many employers know, one of the first steps in responding to an EEOC charge filed by a current or former employee is to put together a position statement to refute the complainant’s allegations and otherwise support the employer’s position.

My colleague Tyrone Thomas, was quoted in the Law360 article entitled, College Athlete Employee Claims a Dead End Post-Penn Suit, in which he analyzes the Indiana court’s decision to dismiss former University of Pennsylvania student-athletes' wage-and-hour claims and the impact of this ruling on recent efforts to classify student-athletes as employees.

My colleague Natalie Young, was quoted in a Turnarounds & Workouts article entitled, “Trump Wins Again: Debtor-Employers Allowed to Reject Expired CBAs”, in which she explains the bankruptcy court’s decision to allow Trump Entertainment to reject expired collective bargaining agreements.

2015 largely brought more of same for California employers: increased wages and benefits for employees and decreased flexibility with employee classifications, the scope of arbitration agreements, and ways to structure compensation. But how will courts and the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement implement 2015’s new laws? What lies ahead in 2016?

Last month, we wrote about the Supreme Court’s opinion in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, in which the Court ruled that “an unaccepted Rule 68 Offer of Judgment for complete relief does not moot a plaintiff’s individual and class action claims.”

Last summer the Second Circuit issued an important decision that identified the proper test for determining whether an employer properly classified an individual as an unpaid intern.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Commissioner and Chair of the New York City Commission on Human Rights Carmelyn P. Malalis announced on February 9, 2016 that the Commission would begin accepting requests for and issue U and T visa certifications. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in part created U and T visas.

Off-the-clock work occurs any time someone performs work while not on their regular shift no matter where the work is performed.  Generally, this work is compensable if the employer knows or should have known that the employee was performing the work.

The Fifth Circuit recently sided with an employer in an off-the-clock overtime case where the employee failed to comply with her employer’s overtime approval and reporting policies.  For employers, this decision highlights the importance of implementing overtime authorization and reporting policies to defeat these claims.

For the last half of 2015, we spent a good deal of time explaining the Affordable Care Act reporting requirements that applied to carriers and large employers. A compilation of these posts, which generally address the content of the ACA reporting requirements, is available here.

In Q&A format, recently issued Notice 2015-87 addresses a number of pressing issues that have arisen under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including that law’s employer shared responsibility rules, information reporting requirements, and insurance market reforms, among others.

The Zika virus has been the topic of much discussion and anxiety for many weeks.  The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now issued travel warnings for more than two dozen countries in the Caribbean, Central America and South America and cases have been reported in at least 13 states and Washington, D.C.

"They’re beautiful.  They’re charming.  And they’re bringing drinks.  She moves toward you like a movie star, her smile melting the ice in your bourbon and water.  His ice blue eyes set the olive in your friend’s martini spinning.

On February 5, 2016, the Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) issued guidance addressing the application of market reforms and other provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to student health coverage, and providing temporary transition relief from enforcement by the Departments for non-compliant employers.

So it may seem like a ridiculous question. Who can own a thought? But it is a bit more difficult to answer this question from a legal perspective than you may think.

Health and welfare have been around for a long time, and they are ubiquitous.  Employees have come to expect medical, dental, life, and other insurance as part of their benefits packages.

The EEOC unveiled its proposed revisions to the Employer Information Report (EEO-1) last month.  With the revisions, the EEOC hopes to gather additional data to help better discern pay discrimination.

We are back with our annual Super Bowl prediction post. As noted in prior years, people are increasingly making their predictions based on two indicators: unemployment rates and the whims of Utah zoo animals.

Last week, Browning-Ferris Industries, the California-based waste management company, appealed two decisions issued by the National Labor Relations Board related to the definition of joint employer.