Ogletree Deakins

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…

Quick Hits In Walsh v. HNTB Corp., a former employee sued an architectural design firm for age discrimination and constructive discharge after it placed her on a performance improvement plan (PIP). The First Circuit found that the facts of this case did not meet the standard for an adverse employment action established with the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis. While a…

Quick Hits Law 2466 of 2025 introduces significant labor reforms in Colombia, including prioritizing indefinite-term contracts, redefining work schedules, and expanding paid leave. The reform mandates hiring quotas for people with disabilities, strengthens anti-discrimination protections, and introduces new teleworking modalities. Night shifts will continue to carry a 35 percent premium, and work on Sundays and holidays will see a gradual increase in pay, reaching a 100 percent premium by July…

Quick Hits A Massachusetts federal court extended a temporary restraining order halting new data reporting requirements for state colleges and universities until April 6, 2026, while considering a preliminary injunction. Seventeen states claim the Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) survey imposes unlawful burdens and violates administrative laws by politicizing data collection. The federal government argued that states will not face irreparable harm from the reporting deadline and asserted that…

Quick Hits On March 18, 2026, the State Department added twelve countries to the visa bond program: Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, and Tunisia. The visa bond program now includes a total of fifty countries. The State Department expanded its list of designated ports of entry to include all commercial airports, including CBP preclearance locations. This measure is aimed at reducing visa…

Quick Hits Utah has enacted H.B. 380 to address and reduce workplace violence in healthcare, requiring hospitals to implement comprehensive reporting systems for such incidents. The law, which takes effect on May 6, 2026, mandates detailed tracking of workplace violence incidents, protection for employees reporting these incidents, and annual reporting of data to the state health department. The collected data is intended to drive improvements in prevention strategies, such as…

Quick Hits On March 23, 2026, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed a bill into law that will ban noncompete agreements for employees and independent contractors. The law will declare all current employment-based and independent contractor-based “noncompetition agreements” to be void and unenforceable, and will prohibit employers from enforcing them. The law will prohibit entering into new employment-based and independent contractor-based noncompetition covenants. The ban will not apply to certain other…

Quick Hits Voluntary equality action plans will be introduced in the UK in April 2026. Mandatory publication is expected from spring 2027, subject to secondary legislation. Equality plans will need to address both the gender pay gap and menopause support. The guidance emphasises practical, evidence-based action. Employers may want to use the voluntary period to prepare ahead of the mandatory requirements. From April 2026, employers with 250 or more employees…

On November 21, 2025, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Five, issued a published decision in Lorenzo v. San Francisco Zen Center addressing the scope of the ministerial exception under the First Amendment in the context of wage-and-hour claims brought by a former staff member against the San Francisco Zen Center, a Zen Buddhist training center. The court reversed summary judgment in favor of the defendants, holding…

Quick Hits The Trump administration released an AI policy framework, largely reiterating the administration’s previously stated policy goals to promote AI. In particular, the framework urges Congress to establish preemption of state and local regulations to promote innovation. The likelihood of these policy goals being fully implemented is uncertain at this time. The “National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence” provides broad, overarching legislative recommendations for Congress for governing the development…

Quick Hits The DOL’s new website for the Center for Faith includes resources on preventing workplace religious discrimination and how faith organizations can access federal grants. The website is part of the Trump administration’s focus on addressing religious bias in the workplace. Federal antidiscrimination laws protect all types of religious belief, as well as atheism. The DOL established the Center for Faith in response to an executive order in 2025.…

Quick Hits On March 17, 2026, Washington Governor Ferguson signed legislation that amends the definition of “employers” that are required to comply with the state’s mini-WARN law to exclude Native American tribes. The bill also changes the notices that must contain the names and addresses of employees affected by layoffs. The amended mini-WARN Act also stops disclosure under the Public Records Act of the names and addresses of affected employees.…

Quick Hits Artificial intelligence, facial recognition systems, and body cameras on security guards are some of the newer methods retailers are using to prevent crime in stores. Recording audio without consent may be prohibited under federal and state laws. Employees and customers have certain privacy rights where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. Retailers are under pressure to balance security concerns, such as preventing theft, with the privacy rights…

Quick Hits The Third Circuit allowed a white police officer’s discrimination lawsuit to proceed, predicting that the Supreme Court of New Jersey would drop the “Background Circumstances Rule” requiring heightened proof for reverse discrimination claims. The ruling reflects a 2025 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that rejected higher standards for majority-group plaintiffs in discrimination cases. A concurrence further criticized the “Background Circumstances Rule” as discriminatory and…

Quick Hits USCIS will continue to accept adjustment of status filings based on the Dates for Filing chart in April 2026. EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories are current on the Dates for Filing chart for all countries other than India, China, and Philippines (only EB-1 and EB-2 categories are current for Philippines). EB-1 category final action dates advance for China and India. EB-2 and EB-3 categories for India advance significantly…

In Thomas v. EOTech, LLC, the court aligned with Sixth Circuit jurisprudence in holding that judicial enforcement of such agreements would “disrupt the relevant statutes’ carefully integrated and uniform remedial schemes.” For employers with provisions in employment agreements shortening the statutes of limitations for such claims, this decision is a warning to review those documents and reassess the risk of litigation. Quick Hits Agreements that prospectively shorten the statutory filing…

Quick Hits The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, affirmed the trial court’s order compelling arbitration of individual employment claims, finding the parties’ arbitration agreement was governed by the FAA. The court upheld the dismissal of class claims, as the arbitration agreement expressly prohibited class, collective, or representative proceedings. The decision clarifies that parties may voluntarily elect to have the FAA govern their arbitration agreement, regardless of whether the…

Quick Hits High-Income Threshold: Employees earning NZD 200,000 or more in total remuneration will lose unjustified dismissal protections. Remedies Reduced or Eliminated for Certain Conduct: Available remedies in personal grievance claims are limited where an employee’s conduct contributed to the situation, and authorities can reduce or eliminate compensation entirely where the employee engaged in serious misconduct, even if the employer’s process was flawed. Procedural Fairness Standard Loosened: A dismissal will…

Quick Hits Seventeen states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin), led by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have sued the U.S. Department of Education (ED) over IPEDS’s Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS), alleging violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, and the E-Government Act. On March 13, 2026, the U.S. District Court…

Quick Hits A New Jersey federal court granted a request to transfer venue in an age discrimination lawsuit involving a remote employee, transferring the lawsuit to a federal court in a district where the employer was located. The court determined that venue was appropriate where the employer is headquartered and where the alleged discriminatory decisions were made, rather than where the employee resides, and emphasized that litigation convenience weighed in…

Background Under the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act, colleges and universities that receive federal financial aid are required to collect and disclose statistics for certain “reported” crimes, including sex offenses. In Galvin, the plaintiff employee, Thomas Galvin, served as the defendant college’s primary campus security authority and chief compliance officer for the Clery Act. As such, Galvin was responsible for making Clery Act disclosures. In November 2010, Galvin learned of…

Quick Hits In Bruce v. Adams and Reese, LLP, a former employee sued a law firm for disability discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, and hostile work environment. The Sixth Circuit recently concluded that a mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreement is voidable when a plaintiff brings multiple claims in a case that includes sexual harassment and/or sexual assault. This is the first federal appellate ruling to find that an entire lawsuit is barred…

Quick Hits The standard workweek in Mexico will decrease from forty-eight to forty hours, by two hours per year starting in 2027. Wages and benefits cannot be reduced. Overtime is restructured. A six-day schedule remains permissible. Key Changes Under the Reform Reduced weekly hours. The standard workweek will decrease to forty hours per week in 2030. The reform does not mandate two rest days per week. Hence, the current structure…

Quick Hits The Sixth Circuit declined to enforce the NLRB’s 2023 Cemex standard, which allowed bargaining orders based on unfair labor practices without regard for the results of secret-ballot elections. The court reasoned that the Board engaged in improper rulemaking disguised as adjudication. The court emphasized that the Board overstepped its authority by disregarding the longstanding preference for secret-ballot elections “as the barometer of a union’s support among employees.” The…

Quick Hits HB 26-1054 was drafted to address workplace safety standards in a time of declining federal enforcement and would grant the Colorado attorney general and private citizens the ability to file civil lawsuits to ensure the law is followed. The bill would increase the state’s role in workplace safety by allowing state lawmakers to create new workplace safety rules when existing federal regulations are repealed. Opponents of the legislation…

Quick Hits The new Form I-129 edition dated February 27, 2026, replaces the January 20, 2025, edition, which USCIS will not accept for petitions postmarked on or after April 1, 2026. The updated form requires detailed position requirements. FY 2027 H-1B Cap Season The H-1B registration period for FY 2027 opened at noon eastern time on March 4, 2026, and closes at noon eastern time on March 19, 2026. A…

Quick Hits Digitalization in business processes in Germany has led to challenges such as the online acquisition and submission of sick leave certificates without physician contact. The Higher Labor Court of Hamm ruled that a sick leave certificate obtained without a personal medical examination is insufficient and can justify an employee’s immediate. Businesses may want to educate supervisors and HR departments on the varying evidentiary value of sick leave certificates,…

Quick Hits A federal district court recently concluded that IT recruiters for a staffing firm qualified for overtime pay because they did not fall within the FLSA’s administrative exemption. The court relied on the administrative/production dichotomy, which distinguishes nonexempt workers who produce and sell a company’s goods and services from exempt workers who administer the business. The court also concluded that the job duties of the recruiters did not rise…

Aviation disruption across the region has been significant. Industry estimates suggest that more than 100,000 travelers may currently be stranded across Middle Eastern aviation hubs, with tens of thousands of flights cancelled or diverted since the escalation of hostilities in late February. Major transit hubs, including Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, and Manama, have experienced widespread disruption, leaving employees and business travelers unable to return home or resume normal travel…

Quick Hits New York enacted amendments to the Trapped at Work Act that delay its effective date to December 19, 2026. The law’s central prohibition is unchanged in purpose but sharpened in phrasing; Employers may not require, as a condition of employment, that an employee or applicant execute an employment promissory note. The statute defines such a note as any instrument, agreement, or contract provision that requires an employee to…

Quick Hits The Fifth Senate of Germany’s Federal Labor Court clarified that remuneration in the event of default of acceptance (Section 615 sentence 1 BGB) cannot be contractually excluded in advance in the event of an invalid termination by the employer or a termination that only takes effect later. Although the provision can, in principle, be contractually amended, this does not apply to the protection of livelihood. Remuneration is a…

Quick Hits The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 (CAA 2026) represents the most sweeping federal effort to date to regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Most of the changes will not take effect until 2029 (for calendar year plans). At the center of the CAA 2026: full pass-through of rebates and required compensation disclosure by PBMs. The CAA 2026 represents the most sweeping federal legislative effort to regulate the pharmacy benefit…

Quick Hits An Ontario labour arbitrator accepted eyewitness evidence of an employee’s cannabis use based on the distinct smell of marijuana, finding this constituted “clear and cogent evidence” even without formal drug recognition training. The employee’s dismissal was reduced to a three-month suspension because the employer did not prove observable impairment—only that cannabis was consumed during working hours. The employer’s delayed response—waiting until the next day to escalate the concern—eliminated…

Quick Hits The State Department updated the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) to broaden B-1 visa eligibility for foreign nationals involved in installing, servicing, and training related to commercial or industrial equipment purchased from foreign companies. A new “Specialized Trainers” category has been added to the FAM, allowing foreign nationals to enter the United States on a B-1 visa to train U.S. workers on specialized or proprietary techniques, skills, or know-how…

Quick Hits Trucking employers must pay Washington-based drivers 1.5 times the regular rate for hours worked over forty per week, or the “reasonable equivalent” of overtime. In Bostain v. Food Express, Inc., Washington’s Supreme Court held that the MWA applies to interstate drivers regardless of where the drivers are performing the work. Noncompliance can be very costly, and violations can result in double damages under Washington law. Employers with Washington…

Quick Hits Multinational employers planning workforce reductions must complete required consultations before making any global announcements or cutting system access. Many countries require mandatory government notifications even for single terminations, not just mass layoffs. A global reduction in force is not a single event—it is a coordinated series of local processes, each with its own rules, timelines, and execution formalities. This U.S.-centric approach, when implemented outside the United States, routinely…

Quick Hits The FTC said in a policy statement that it will take a relaxed COPPA enforcement position for certain website and online service operators that collect personal information solely for determining a user’s age without first obtaining parental consent if specific conditions are met. The FTC’s policy statement applies only to “general” and “mixed” audience operators of websites and online services, not operators that target children as their primary…

On February 18, 2026, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) released a draft revised Supporting Statement providing the text of this proposed certification, which would be added to the registration process for the System for Award Management (SAM.gov), the federal database where entities must register to receive federal funding. The certification requirement implements Executive Order (EO) No. 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” and the U.S. attorney general’s…

Quick Hits The NLRB issued a final rule that reinstates the 2020 standard for joint employer status, formally withdrawing a broader 2023 rule struck down in federal court.  The rule narrows the meaning of “essential terms and conditions of employment” for joint employer status purposes to wages, benefits, hours of work, hiring, discharge, discipline, supervision, and direction. The return to the 2020 rule provides greater clarity and predictability for employers,…