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Quick Hits The German Federal Labor Court held that blanket release clauses in employment contracts that entitle the employer to grant a release upon termination constitute an unreasonable disadvantage and are invalid. An employee’s interest in continuing employment until the termination of the employment relationship generally outweighs an employer’s interest in granting the employee a leave of absence in a terminated employment relationship until the expiration of the notice period.…

Quick Hits USCIS has received enough H-1B registrations for unique beneficiaries to meet the annual cap. Petitioners will have ninety days, beginning on April 1, 2026, to file a completed H-1B petition for each selected beneficiary. Employment in H-1B status can begin no earlier than October 1, 2026. The FY 2027 lottery is the first to use the new weighted, wage-level-based selection process established under a DHS rule that took…

Quick Hits ViaQuest Residential Services recently agreed to pay $975,000 to settle claims it misclassified program managers as exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Ohio’s wage laws. The case, Simmons v. ViaQuest Residential Services LLC, No. 2:23-00201 (S.D. Ohio), centered on whether program managers’ “primary duty” was management or direct patient care. One hundred-six plaintiffs opted in after conditional certification, illustrating how quickly liability can…

Quick Hits As of January 1, 2026, Connecticut employers with eleven or more employees must provide paid sick leave to all nonseasonal workers, with full expansion to employers of any size expected by January 1, 2027. Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave maximum weekly benefit rose to $1,016.40 in 2026 while the employee contribution rate remains unchanged at 0.5 percent of wages. Connecticut employers may want to audit exempt employee…

Quick Hits The Superior Court of Québec found that an arbitration award that had overturned the dismissal of a heavy vehicle driver for failure to accommodate was unreasonable, thereby reinstating the dismissal. The court opinion confirms that zero-tolerance policies for alcohol consumption constitute a legitimate standard that is reasonably necessary to ensure public safety. The duty to accommodate was not triggered because the automatic dismissal took effect before the employer…

Quick Hits New Jersey lawmakers are currently considering several bills that would have significant implications for employers. Key proposals include the establishment of paid prenatal leave, an extension of pregnancy-related disability benefits, and amendments to ensure paid sick leave applies to employees bound by amendable collective bargaining agreements. Here is a summary of some notable employment law bills currently under consideration. Pregnancy-Related Employment Protections Assembly Bill (A) 113—Concerns bereavement leave…

Quick Hits Newly proposed AB 2321 would require Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations to “timely notify” the local district attorney’s office of any case “in which there is a serious injury or death,” unless “the bureau determines there is legally insufficient evidence of a violation of the law.” The referral requirement applies to fatalities and cases of permanent total disability. The term “permanent total disability”—language borrowed from the state’s workers’ compensation…

Quick Hits Even “just for fun” April Fools’ jokes and pranks must not violate the rights of others or disrupt workplace harmony; in cases of serious violations, German labor law sanctions up to and including termination without notice are possible. Content that discriminates against or demeans others may constitute harassment—employers have duties to protect and prevent such behavior. What counts as an April Fools’ prank? April Fools’ jokes are defined…

Quick Hits A Massachusetts federal court provisionally granted intervention in ongoing litigation challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s ACTS survey, for a limited purpose, to two higher-education associations seeking TROs against the survey deadlines. The TRO extends the deadline to complete the ACTS survey to April 14, 2026, for the proposed intervenor associations and their constituent institutions and restrains enforcement of the earlier March 18 and March 31 deadlines against…

AB 1803 represents California’s latest effort to expand mandatory workplace training requirements—this time, to address what its sponsors describe as a gap in existing law with respect to hate-motivated conduct in the workplace. Quick Hits California is poised to expand mandatory workplace training requirements. AB 1803, introduced in February 2026, would require employers with five or more employees to incorporate anti-hate speech training into their existing workplace harassment prevention programs—a…

Quick Hits The DOL proposed a six-factor safe harbor to meet a fiduciary’s duty of prudence when selecting designated investment alternatives under participant-directed defined contribution plans. The proposed regulation does not apply to brokerage windows or self-directed brokerage accounts under defined contribution plans.  This proposal follows President Trump’s executive order aimed at increasing access to alternative assets and reversing earlier Biden-era guidance that discouraged such investments due to risk concerns. …

Quick Hits In Larkin v. Total Quality Logistics, LLC, a logistics firm was sued after it denied a work-from-home accommodation request from an employee with a high-risk pregnancy. A jury found the accommodation denial contributed to the baby’s premature birth and death. The case shows how an accommodation denial may create liability for employers if they aggravate a worker’s medical condition. Background on the Case In 2021, a claims associate…

Quick Hits Virginia’s General Assembly has passed legislation that would prohibit noncompete agreements for healthcare professionals. HB1 and SB1 would establish a multiyear schedule to increase Virginia’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by January 1, 2028, with further adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index starting in 2029. SB258 and SB790 would introduce workplace protections and health insurance coverage for menopause and perimenopause. Prohibiting Healthcare Noncompete Agreements (Senate Bill…

Quick Hits Smart glasses, which can record audio, video, and capture facial recognition data, present significant employment law challenges for retailers. Overly broad recording bans can be illegal under the National Labor Relations Act. Retail employers may want to engage in an interactive process for accommodation requests related to smart glasses to avoid potential lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Recording Problem: Know the State Laws Unlike cellular…

Quick Hits Germany’s Federal Labor Court ruled that recurring seasonal allergies like hay fever may be considered a continuation of the same underlying condition rather than new illnesses. Employers can contest sick leave claims for recurring seasonal allergies if the employee has been absent for more than six weeks within the relevant periods, shifting the burden of proof to the employee. Employers are generally protected against liability for allergic reactions…

Quick Hits Expanded worker protections are becoming the norm across nearly all jurisdictions. Reduced working hours are trending globally. AI regulation in HR is accelerating, from the EU AI Regulation affecting Germany, to Ontario’s AI disclosure rules in Canada, to the UAE’s use of AI for enforcement. Compliance and reporting standards continue to rise, including enhanced pay transparency requirements and contractor classification rules. From sweeping labor code consolidations to new…

Quick Hits Twenty states and the District of Columbia recently filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, challenging the USDA’s new funding conditions related to anti-DEI, gender ideology, and immigration requirements. Similar certification requirements are emerging across federal agencies, including a certification recently proposed by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). Federal grant recipients and contractors may wish to evaluate their DEI-related programs and monitor…