Wage & Hour

Expert Analysis

• Handbook Hot Topics: Changing Status Quo In A Union Shop

  

  A recent administrative law decision concerning a dispute between Fortune Media and the NewsGuild of New York is an important reminder to employers with unionized workforces to refrain from making unilateral updates to employee handbooks that will change the terms and conditions of employment, says Jennifer Hataway at Butler Snow.

• Eye On Compliance: A Shift In Religious Accommodation Law

  

  The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Groff v. DeJoy is making it more difficult for employers to deny religious accommodations, and there are three takeaways employers should keep in mind, say William Cook and Matthew High at Wilson Elser.

• FLSA Collective Actions: Are Courts Still Dancing The 2-Step?

  

  In the absence of amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act, courts have filled in some of the statute's gaps and established a two-step framework for conditional certification of a class, but recent rulings show signs that courts are ready to hold party plaintiffs to a higher standard if they want to recruit others to join their lawsuits, says Allison Powers at Barack Ferrazzano.

• Calif. PAGA Ruling Devalues Arbitration For Employers

  

  The California Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Adolph v. Uber may lessen employers' appetites for arbitration under the state’s Private Attorneys General Act, because arbitrating an allegedly aggrieved employee’s individual claims is unlikely to dispose of their nonindividual claims, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

• Understanding Illinois' Temp Worker Obligation Updates

  

  Recent amendments to the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act would significantly expand the protection for temporary workers in the state, impose new compliance obligations on staffing agencies and their client companies, and add significant enforcement teeth to the act, say Nicholas Anaclerio and Ellie Hemminger at Vedder Price.

• How End Of Forced Arb. Is Affecting Sex Harassment Cases

  

  A little over a year after the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault Act became effective, we have started seeing substantive interpretation of the EFAA, almost exclusively from the U.S. district courts in New York, and there are two key takeaways for employers, says Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.

• The Differing Court Approaches To Pay Equity Questions

  

  Employers face the tough task of navigating an increasingly complex patchwork of pay equity laws and court interpretations, say attorneys at Hunton.

• Calif. Whistleblower Decision Signals Change For Employers

  

  Because the California Supreme Court's recent The People v. Kolla's decision significantly expands employee whistleblower protections, employers should ensure that internal reporting procedures clearly communicate the appropriate methods of reporting and elevating suspected violations of law, say Alison Tsao and Sophia Jimenez at CDF Labor Law.

• Pay Transparency And ESG Synergy Can Inform Initiatives

  

  The proliferation of pay transparency laws and ESG initiatives has created unique opportunities for companies to comply with the challenging laws while furthering their social aims, says Kelly Cardin at Ogletree.

• Eye On Compliance: An NLRB Primer For Private Employers

  

  Many employers, especially those with nonunionized workforces, may not realize they are subject to federal labor law, but with a recent flurry of precedent-changing rulings from the National Labor Relations, understanding how to comply with the National Labor Relations Act may now be more important than ever, says Bruno Katz at Wilson Elser.

• RETRACTED: How New Prevailing Wage Rule May Affect H-1B Employment

  

  Editor's note: This guest article has been removed due to an inaccurate discussion of the status of the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage rule, "Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States." The rule is no longer on the Biden administration's current rulemaking agenda.

• Water Cooler Talk: Office Drug Abuse Insights From 'Industry'

  

  Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Squarespace general counsel Larissa Boz about how employees in the Max TV show "Industry" abuse drugs and alcohol to cope with their high-pressure jobs, and discuss managerial and drug testing best practices for addressing suspected substance use at work.

• How New Pregnancy, Nursing Laws Surpass Prior Protections

  

  Employers must understand how the new Pregnant Workers Fairness and PUMP Acts build on existing federal workplace laws — and they will need to make key updates to ensure compliance, say Alexandra Garrison Barnett and Leigh Shapiro at Alston & Bird, and Kandis Wood Jackson at McKinsey & Co.