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

Quick Hits The California Court of Appeal upheld a ruling that a car dealership’s “flag bonus pay” system for service technicians complies with California’s “no borrowing” rule. The court distinguished this compensation structure from the previously unlawful “piece rate basis” system because it paid a guaranteed hourly rate for all clocked hours (independent of productivity) that fully satisfied minimum-wage and rest-break requirements, plus a true productivity bonus on top. The…

Quick Hits The NYDFS recently issued guidance that provides detailed best practices to mitigate risk throughout the TPSP life cycle: due diligence, contracting, ongoing monitoring, and termination. The guidance indicates that NYDFS will scrutinize policies and procedures related to TPSPs, especially where covered entities outsource cybersecurity compliance. Companies may want to revisit vendor management policies, contracts, and oversight procedures, including with respect to AI platforms. NYDFS has identified covered entities’…

Quick Hits Jurisdictions such as California, New York City, Colorado, Illinois, and the European Union (EU) variously require (or plan to require) and encourage bias testing, notices, transparency, and, in some cases, public summaries. AI involvement can create substantial legal risk, even when humans make the final decisions; AI-influenced scores, rankings, or screens can still be treated by regulatory authorities as decision-making, triggering validation, bias-testing, notice, and transparency duties—with “cutoff”…

Quick Hits Effective January 1, 2026, New York State will raise the minimum wage to $17.00 for downstate employees and $16.00 for upstate employees Along with the minimum wage increases, there will be adjustments to the cash wage and tip credits for tipped service employees, as well as revised meal and uniform credit rates to reflect the new wage structure. The minimum salary thresholds for the executive and administrative employee…

Quick Hits USCIS will continue to accept adjustment of status filings based on the Dates for Filing chart in the December 2025 Visa Bulletin. The December 2025 Visa Bulletin shows some advancement from last month’s bulletin for employment-based categories for the final action dates. All employment-based categories for dates for filing remain unchanged, except for fourth preference for Certain Religious Workers and fifth preference unreserved. The final action dates for…

Quick Hits The IRS and Treasury Department recently published guidance to clarify how employees may calculate their tax deduction for tips and overtime pay for the 2025 tax year when they have limited information. The guidance shows examples of common situations, such as a bartender with reported and unreported tips, a self-employed travel guide who received tips on digital payment apps, and a law enforcement employee who is paid overtime…

Quick Hits The EEOC issued a one‑page technical assistance document and updated its national origin landing page, both making clear that Title VII protects all workers—including Americans—and clearly stating potential business rationales do not justify national origin discrimination or anti-American bias. Job ads preferring visa statuses, disparate treatment in applications, assignments, or pay, and unlawful harassment or retaliation are identified as top risk and enforcement areas in the ongoing effort…

Quick Hits President Trump has nominated labor and employment M. Carter Crow as the new general counsel of the EEOC, a position that has been vacant since January 2025. Crow’s Senate confirmation process will likely take several weeks to months, but if confirmed, Crow would be positioned to carry out the Trump administration’s discrimination and harassment enforcement priorities. The nomination comes weeks after the U.S. Senate confirmed another commissioner, restoring…

Quick Hits The elective deferral limit for 401(k) and 403(b) plans will increase to $24,500 for 2026, and the catch-up contribution limit will increase to $8,000 for most employees but will remain at $11,250 for employees who achieve ages sixty to sixty-three during 2026. The limitation on compensation that can be taken into account under tax-qualified retirement plans will increase to $360,000 for 2026. The threshold for determining highly compensated…

Quick Hits On October 30, 2025, the Federal Labor Court of Germany ruled that probationary periods in fixed-term contracts must be proportionate to the duration and type of work, with no rigid limits. The Federal Labor Court upheld a four-month probationary period for a one-year fixed-term contract, considering it is proportionate due to a sixteen-week training plan. The Federal Labor Court clarified that even if a probationary period is deemed…

Quick Hits Starting no later than January 3, 2028, the FAMLI program will provide most Maryland employees up to twelve weeks of paid leave for certain family and medical reasons, with a possible additional twelve weeks for parental bonding, per benefit year. After several legislative delays to the program’s effective date, the MDOL has now reissued proposed regulations to implement the FAMLI program. The proposed Claims chapter offers additional key…

Quick Hits With the EEOC’s quorum restored, employers can expect more high-profile investigations, broad data requests, and pattern-or-practice litigation targeting hiring, promotion, compensation, DEI programming, and accommodations. Employers may want to consider conducting adverse impact and pay studies to identify and remove barriers to equal employment opportunity. Employment decisions that are made based on objective job-related criteria buttressed by ample documentation will likely be strongest and most defensible; it therefore…