The first article in this series provided a general overview of the OSH Act and OSHA; the second article examined OSHA’s rulemaking process; the third article reviewed an employer’s duty to comply with standards; and the fourth article discussed the general duty clause. This article addresses OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements. Quick Hits The OSH Act’s recordkeeping provisions require employers to “make,…

Quick Hits Beginning April 1, 2024, USCIS service centers stopped accepting paper-filed I-129 petitions requesting H-1B and H-1B1 classification, instead requiring petitioners to file at designated lockbox facilities. As a result, the filing volume at USCIS lockboxes has increased, and USCIS has now confirmed that it is experiencing delays in issuing receipt notices. Employers may wish to consider these delays…

Quick Hits Restrictions on contact have been modified to eliminate mutual no-contact orders as the default. Supportive measure decisions are appealable. Procedures for emergency removal of a student respondent and placement of an employee respondent on administrative leave have been clarified. The final regulations take effect on August 1, 2024. § 106.44—Recipients’ Duty to Address Sex Discrimination Knowledge and Notice…

Quick Hits The EEOC issued a final version of new guidance for employers clarifying its positions on the applications of federal laws prohibiting harassment and retaliation. The new guidance is the first update to the EEOC’s workplace harassment guidance since 1999 and incorporates several new developments in the law and modern workforces. Key to the new guidance is that it…

Quick Hits DHS announced relaxed employment authorization standards for Ethiopian and Palestinian F-1 students who are eligible for work authorization. During the school year, work-authorized Ethiopian and Palestinian F-1 students may increase the number of hours worked and reduce their school course load. Students who utilize this benefit will still be maintaining their status despite not having a “full course…

Quick Hits The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that a retailer’s commission-based compensation plan violated the Massachusetts Wage Act by paying commission-based sales employees their overtime and Sunday premium pay out of their earned commissions. The retailer used a compensation plan that functioned like an advance on sales employees’ future commissions, with sales employees being paid…

Quick Hits A surge in NJ WARN notices issued in the months prior to the April 10, 2023, effective date of the amendments suggests employers expedited terminations to avoid the new mandatory severance requirements of the amended law. At least three significant NJ WARN lawsuits are pending that may resolve open questions addressing remote work, statewide aggregation, technical terminations in…

Quick Hits The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case over whether federal courts have discretion to dismiss lawsuits once the claims are compelled to arbitration. The decision could resolve a 6-4 circuit split with the majority holding that district courts must stay lawsuits pending arbitration, and a minority holding that district courts may dismiss. The Supreme Court held…

Quick Hits Washington State enacted a law that regulates employers’ use of production quotas or standards for workers at warehouse distribution centers. The law applies to employers that employ or otherwise engage, whether directly or indirectly, more than (1) 100 or more nonexempt employees in a single warehouse distribution center, or (2) 1,000 or more nonexempt employees in one or…

The final regulations amend § 34 C.F.R. 106.1, et seq. According to a statement from the Department announcing the final rule, “The unofficial version of the final regulations is available here. In addition, the Department has released a fact sheet, a summary of the major provisions of the 2024 Title IX final rule, and a resource for drafting Title IX…

Quick Hits A judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a preliminary injunction enjoining actions to enforce the “equivalent benefits” provisions of DTLSA. The equal pay provisions of Section 42 of the DTLSA were not subject to the injunction and went into effect on April 1, 2024. On April 3, 2024, the district court…

Quick Hits The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, held that a former employee had “a viable claim” that his employer had “diverted a portion of his wages in violation of the [NJ]WPL by requiring he use his personal vehicle and not reimbursing him for costs associated with that use.” Prior decisions by the U.S. District Court for the…

Quick Hits Employer contributions to Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Fund are set to begin on January 1, 2025. The Maine Department of Labor is expected to begin the rulemaking process in spring 2024. The state has given itself a deadline of January 1, 2025, to adopt final rules implementing the program. Maine’s PFML program, which was established…

Quick Hits The FTC will hold an Open Commission Meeting on April 23, 2024, on its proposed rule that would ban noncompetes. The proposed rule would prohibit the use of noncompete clauses and preempt all state laws providing lesser protection than the proposed rule. The proposed rule would apply to any contractual term that functions to prevent a worker from…

Quick Hits Minnesota lawmakers are working on bills addressing drug testing, earned sick and safe time, pay transparency in job postings, restrictive employment covenants in service contracts, and unemployment benefits for striking workers. The legislative session adjourns on May 20, 2024. In our March 27, 2024, legislative update article, several key bills were previewed, many of which have made it…

Quick Hits Federal financial regulators are targeting employers for employees’ use of personal text messages or off-channel communications to discuss business, alleging it may violate recordkeeping rules. The actions raise concerns for financial employers given the increased use of personal electronic communications platforms and of the popularity of bring-your-own-device policies. The actions further highlight federal regulators’ push to incentivize employers…

Quick Hits The EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 final action dates will remain unchanged for all countries of chargeability. USCIS has confirmed it will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications based on the final action dates chart for the May 2024 Visa Bulletin. The EB-4 Certain Religious Workers category is extended until September 29, 2024. The May 2024 Visa Bulletin does…

Quick Hits USCIS recently announced that it has updated its definition for “Schedule A, Group II” occupations. USCIS has now clarified that Schedule A, Group II “Sciences or Arts” occupations include occupations in any field of knowledge and/or skill for which colleges and universities commonly offer courses leading to a degree. This clarification aligns USCIS’s policy with DOL regulations. In…

Quick Hits USCIS extended the automatic extension period for eligible EADs from up to 180 days to up to 540 days for applicants who timely and properly filed their Form I-765 applications. The eligible applicants are those who filed their Form I-765 1) on or after October 27, 2023 and if the application is still pending, on April 8, 2024;…

Quick Hits Momentum to classify NCAA athletes as employees may impact international athletes’ immigration status and jeopardize their participation in NCAA sports. Most student visas limit holders’ ability to work while studying in the United States. Changes to U.S. immigration law may be necessary to allow international athletes to continue to participate in NCAA sports moving forward. In the Dartmouth…

Quick Hits Washington’s legislature recently concluded a productive 2024 legislative session with approximately 340 bills receiving passage by both houses and moving on to the governor’s desk. Notable newly enacted pieces of legislation include a measure that restricts employers’ ability to speak to employees on political or religious matters, a statutory expansion of the classes protected by Washington’s Equal Pay…

The release of selections occurred less than a week after the conclusion of the H-1B cap registration period. This year’s H-1B lottery selections were conducted over a span of five days and concluded on April 1, 2024, when USCIS announced that it had received enough electronic registrations for unique beneficiaries during the initial registration period. Quick Hits USCIS has yet…

Quick Hits Pennsylvania amended its tax law to make amounts contributed to dependent care assistance excludable for income tax purposes. The change aligns Pennsylvania with the federal treatment and is retroactive for the 2023 tax year. Employers may have withheld taxes on dependent care assistance contributions and may have issued Forms W-2 that overstated income. On December 13, 2023, Pennsylvania…

Quick Hits Florida enacted legislation that will ease employment restrictions for minors sixteen and seventeen years old. The law gives parents and school superintendents the ability to waive the limitation on minors working only thirty hours per week while school is in session. The changes take effect on July 1, 2024. The enacted legislation, House Bill (HB) 49, amends Florida’s…

Quick Hits The respective paid sick leave laws of the State of Washington and the City of Seattle have recently been clarified and updated. Under Washington’s paid sick and safe leave law, only construction workers who are directly engaged in construction work by performing “service, maintenance, or construction work on a jobsite, in the field or in a fabrication shop…

Quick Hits The FDIC released proposed revisions to its guidelines for reviewing bank mergers. The proposed revisions include a prohibition on banks using noncompete agreements with employees of units that are divested as part of the merger. The FDIC is seeking comments on the proposed revisions. On March 21, 2024, the FDIC unveiled proposed revisions to its Statement of Policy…

Quick Hits Georgia allows patients with specific health conditions to use low-THC oil-based products that may contain up to 5 percent THC; meanwhile, over-the-counter CBD oil is limited to a maximum of 0.3 percent THC. Georgia law does not limit the methods or means of drug testing available to employers, nor does Georgia law infringe on an employer’s ability to…

Quick Hits The AI Act’s risk-based approach subjects AI applications to four different levels of restrictions and requirements, including “unacceptable risk,” which are banned; “high risk”; “limited risk”; and “minimal risk.” The AI Act treats the use of AI in the workplace as potentially high-risk. The AI Act is expected to be published soon and go into effect in spring…

Quick Hits Mexico’s Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social) (SLSW) recently enabled a module on the REPSE website in order to renew licenses for providers of outsourced specialized services. REPSE license holders have three months to complete the renewal process, with the start date depending on the year and month that a holder started…

Quick Hits The Minnesota Legislature is considering competing bills that would amend the statewide earned sick and safe time law. The legislature has also introduced bills that would hike punitive damages for violations of the Minnesota Human Rights Act and require employers with thirty or more employees to include salary ranges in job postings. Additional legislation would bar staffing agencies…

Quick Hits On December 22, 2023, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board published additional modifications of the draft indoor heat illness prevention standard. The Standards Board’s agenda items showed that the Standards Board had planned to consider a version of the regulation that was essentially unchanged from a December 22, 2023, draft. The Cal/OSHA Standards Board announced at the start of the…

Quick Hits OSHA’s “walkaround rule” has been approved by OIRA for finalization. The rule allows third parties, potentially not connected with the workplace, to accompany a CSHO during the inspection process/facility walkaround, if the CSHO considers such parties “reasonably necessary to the conduct of an effective and thorough physical inspection of the workplace.” The rule will take effect thirty days…

Quick Hits Effective February 13, 2024, the DOJ increased civil monetary penalties, including those related to immigration-related violations. While these increases are not as substantial as the immigration benefit request fees increase announced in January 2024, employers may still want to be aware of them. The increase adjusts for inflation, in accordance with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. U.S.…

Quick Hits The NCAA March Madness men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments can be a distraction for employees that harms overall productivity. The rise of online sports betting has the potential to further increase the distraction of March Madness and raise concerns with gambling regulations and employer policies. From office pools to streaming games at work, employers are tasked with…

Quick Hits OSHA’s proposed Emergency Response Standard—an overhaul of the decades-old Fire Brigades Standard—would apply to firefighting, emergency medical services, and technical search and rescue. The proposed standard’s lack of specific definitions, action levels, and exposure limits makes its compliance expectations less than clear for covered employers. The proposed standard’s framework may impose additional compliance, implementation, and operational challenges on…

Quick Hits The Eleventh Circuit ruled a Florida law that would prohibit employers from holding mandatory workplace training programs that discuss certain DEI-related topics was unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The restriction was part of a broader law known as the “Stop WOKE Act” signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in April 2022 to limit DEI in education and employment. The…

Quick Hits A federal district court in Tennessee recently issued a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of the NCAA’s NIL-recruiting ban with respect to student-athletes. The court found that the ban limited student-athletes’ negotiation leverage and prevented them from understanding “their true NIL value.” The court held that the recruiting ban likely violated federal antitrust law and that irreparable harm would…

Quick Hits Covered construction contractors may be required to provide additional data and documentation in response to the construction compliance review scheduling letter and itemized listing. Covered construction contractors may be required to provide additional information on Form CC-314 about new construction contract awards that exceed $10,000. Comments on the proposals are due no later than April 26, 2024. As…

Quick Hits The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) was set up in 2006 by the Ministry of Manpower, the National Trades Union Congress, and the Singapore National Employers Federation, to promote the adoption of fair, responsible, and progressive employment practices in Singapore. Since its inception, TAFEP has slowly gained traction with employees and job seekers alike…

Quick Hits The Supreme Court of Ohio issued a ruling confirming that Ohio municipalities did not violate the U.S. Constitution or the Ohio Constitution by taxing remote workers who lived outside of city limits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling applies only to a temporary state law applicable during the COVID-19 pandemic that has since been lifted. The Ohio Supreme…