Business, Management, Marketing, Money, Tax, Law, People

Quick Hits Unlimited PTO outside the United States does not eliminate the need to track minimum statutory leave, carryover, and payout-on-termination; rather, it adds a layer of complexity to it. In jurisdictions with already generous statutory leave regimes, unlimited PTO may create productivity and coverage challenges. Replacing a more generous contractual PTO entitlement with unlimited PTO is generally considered a detrimental change requiring employee consent. In some countries, employers looking…

Quick Hits DV-2026 visa processing and DV-2027 lottery registration have faced separate disruptions. DV-2027 registration remains closed, with no confirmed opening date. Diversity Visa Lottery Background Each year, the Diversity Visa program offers up to 55,000 immigrant visas to eligible individuals from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States. The process begins when individuals enter the lottery, and the State Department randomly selects entrants. Those selected…

Quick Hits In Commonwealth Department of Labor and Industry v. Accuserv Pharmacy, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed a trial court’s ruling in favor of twenty employees who sued for unpaid overtime wages. The appellate court found the trial court erred in determining that a six-year statute of limitations applied to the employees’ claims. The three-year statute of limitations had been commonly accepted by practitioners and judges throughout Pennsylvania. In…

Quick Hits  Courts and labor authorities outside of the United States often look at how compensation is paid in practice, and local statutory entitlements can override the plan terms entirely. Bonus terms that are consistently applied year after year can become contractual entitlements that are difficult to change or withdraw. In some countries, such as China, offering actual equity can be impractical or restricted, and companies often use phantom equity…

Quick Hits New York’s Trapped at Work Act restricts the use of “stay or pay” agreements, which, as a condition of employment, require employees to reimburse an employer for certain expenses or costs if the employment relationship ends before a specified date. Repayment agreements that are not a condition of employment are permissible. The New York Department of Labor may issue fines ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 for violations of…

The agency’s April 2024 final rule implementing the statute was not as widely applauded. Now that the EEOC has formally announced plans to revise that rule, employers should expect a narrower regulatory definition of what the PWFA covers. Employers need to read beyond headlines declaring protections will be rolled back and not expect any slowdown in enforcement on behalf of pregnant and newly postpartum workers who require basic accommodations to…

Quick Hits The DOL’s Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) recently released final rules requiring more financial transparency and disclosures from PBMs to health plans. The rule’s purpose is to give large employers and plan fiduciaries more information to evaluate their contracts with PBMs and affiliated brokers and consultants. The regulations are applicable to plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2027. The final regulations will require both initial disclosures…

Quick Hits The role of HR in disciplinary proceedings is generally to guide the process and provide advice to the managers taking the decisions. In most situations, HR will not participate in taking the final decision. Nevertheless, cases are fact-specific, and someone from HR taking the decision in a disciplinary process does not automatically render a dismissal unfair. Background and Analysis In Shing v University of the Arts London, WYC…