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By A. Scott Hecker

Seyfarth Synopsis: On December 6, 2023, the Biden Administration announced the release of its Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division continues to pursue – with frequent delays – a number of significant rulemakings, including the Division’s proposed increase to the minimum salary level for white-collar…

Continue Reading The Biden Administration Issued Its Fall 2023 Regulatory Agenda – What Can We Expect From the DOL Wage and Hour Division’s Rulemakings?

By Rachel V. See, Christopher J. DeGroff, and Andrew L. Scroggins

Seyfarth Synopsis: The EEOC and the Department of Labor Wage Hour Division (WHD) have taken an important step toward inter-agency coordination, committing to information sharing, joint investigations, training, and public outreach. The Memorandum of Understanding between the EEOC and DOL contemplates referring complaints between the two agencies…

Continue Reading EEOC and DOL Join Forces – What the Alliance Means for Employers

By Annette Tyman, Lawrence Z. Lorber, and Michael L. Childers

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) is closing the summer by issuing two new enforcement directives. The first, Directive 2018-03, clarifies the OFCCP’s enforcement of religious non-discrimination in light of recent court decisions and executive orders. The second, Directive 2018-04, creates focused …
Continue Reading OFCCP Winds Down Summer By Issuing New Guidance on Religious Discrimination and Announcing New Focused Review Process

By Annette Tyman and Michael L. Childers

Seyfarth Synopsis: Federal Contractors should immediately update the Disability Self-ID Form to include the new expiration date.  The OFCCP is allowing a 10-day grace period, until February 10th to update the form.

Last week we updated contractors on OMB’s renewal of the disability self-identification form (see post here).  Note that there were…
Continue Reading Additional Information for Implementing the Renewed Disability Self-ID Form

By Annette Tyman, Lawrence Z. Lorber, Jaclyn W. Hamlin, and Brent I. Clark

 

Seyfarth Synopsis: The first of several anticipated challenges to Executive Order 13673, “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces,” has resulted in a preliminary injunction staying the implementation of some – but not all – aspects of the Executive Order and its implementing regulations. In a …
Continue Reading OSHA Proposed Citations Covered by Texas Judge’s Grant of Preliminary Injunction to Government Contractors Challenging “Blacklisting” Executive Order

By Pamela Q. Devata, Cameron Smith, and Courtney S. Stieber

On April 16, 2015, the New York City Council passed Intro-261-A, a bill that would amend the New York City Human Rights Law to make it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to use an individual’s consumer credit history in making employment decisions. In particular, the bill makes…
Continue Reading New York City To Prohibit Use of Credit History in Employment Decisions

By: Tracy Billows

Although employers are not required by law to have employee handbooks, if an employer chooses to go down such a path, legal compliance and being current with latest trends is a must. A non-compliant employee handbook can be used in claims of discrimination, union grievances, and other employee-employer disputes. Does your employee handbook need to be updated?
Continue Reading Test Your Knowledge: Employee Handbook True/False Quiz

By: Alexander J. Passantino, Paul H. Kehoe, and Lawrence Z. Lorber

On March 6, 2015, the Department of Labor submitted its final guidance pursuant to Executive Order 13673, titled Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (“OIRA”) for review. Review by OIRA is the final…
Continue Reading The “Blacklisting” Executive Order: The Department of Labor’s Guidance To OMB For Final Review

By: Paul Kehoe, Meredith  C.  Bailey, Lawrence Z. Lorber and Annette Tyman

On January 28, 2015, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) to update its Sex Discrimination Guidelines (the “Guidelines”).  The NPRM will be published in the Federal Register on January 30, 2015, followed by a…
Continue Reading Federal Contractors Should Be Concerned About The OFCCP’s NPRM Revising its Sex Discrimination Guidelines

By Clark Smith

A One-Two Punch For Employers 

Last July, we alerted you to a Fifth Circuit decision that limited the whistleblower protections of the Dodd‑Frank Act of 2010. In that case, the court held that Dodd‑Frank protects whistleblowers only if they report a securities-law violation directly to the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”), as opposed to just making an internal complaint. This month, in Villanueva v. U.S. Department of Labor, the Fifth Circuit published a decision curtailing the reach of whistleblower protections under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”). Taken in tandem, these two decisions are welcome news for energy employers because they significantly restrict the reach of whistleblower protections, particularly for employees working outside the U.S., who may be disinclined to make complaints directly to the SEC or who may rely on alleged violations of foreign laws to make their case.

SOX protects employees of publicly-traded companies who engage in certain protected activities such as reporting violations of certain federal laws, such as mail and wire fraud.  SOX creates a private cause of action for employees who have been retaliated against for engaging in such protected activities. Last week, in Villanueva, the Fifth Circuit ruled that SOX’s whistleblower provision only protects reporting violations of U.S. federal law. 
Continue Reading Another Victory for Energy Employers: The Fifth Circuit Limits SOX Whistleblower Suits to Violations of U.S. Federal Law