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Quick Hits The demand for hybrid and remote work arrangements remains strong among employees. Paying remote workers less than in-person workers for performing the same work could increase the risk of discrimination claims. Reducing pay for exempt employees who work remotely could jeopardize their exempt status in certain situations. Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed a wave of telework, this type of arrangement remains very popular among many workers.…

The OSHA Form 301 Incident Report captures the who, what, where, when, and how for each recordable case. Employers typically assemble the required information from supervisor reports, employee statements, timekeeping records, medical work‑status notes, workers’ compensation first reports of injury, equipment logs, and job descriptions. Quick Hits The OSHA Form 301 Incident Report requires detailed documentation of each recordable case, including the sequence and mechanism of injury or illness, and…

Quick Hits On November 19, 2025, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal of a PAGA action in Brown v. Dave & Buster’s of California, Inc., holding that a prior settlement barred the plaintiff’s claims under the doctrine of claim preclusion. The court found that the settlement in a 2019 action, which covered the same alleged Labor Code violations, constituted a final judgment on the merits and involved the…

Quick Hits On November 18, 2025, the California Court of Appeal affirmed penalties against Anton’s Services for misclassifying workers and failing to comply with prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements on public works projects. The court’s decision highlights the strict enforcement of California’s Prevailing Wage Law, emphasizing the necessity of correct worker classification and adherence to apprenticeship statutes. The ruling clarifies that judicial review of administrative wage and penalty assessments is…

Quick Hits The EEOC, the DOL, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are coordinating efforts related to national origin discrimination and anti-American bias. As part of Project Firewall, the DOL and EEOC plan to share data, align enforcement tools, and facilitate referrals addressing discriminatory hiring and potential H‑1B program abuses. Given this coordination, employers may see…

Quick Hits California and New York are implementing stringent measures to curb “stay or pay” contracts. A Florida appellate court ruled the state’s open carry ban unconstitutional, allowing open carry throughout the state. Maryland issued final regulations for its mini-WARN Act, which includes provisions for remote employees. New pay transparency laws in New Jersey, California, Delaware, and Washington require employers to disclose pay and benefits information in job postings, with…

Quick Hits The European Union’s “Equal Treatment Framework Directive” (Directive 2000/78/EC) also protects employees, who are not themselves disabled, from discrimination by association on grounds of disability, such as parents who care for a child with a disability and are disadvantaged as a result. In such cases, employers must provide reasonable accommodation, such as adjustments to working hours or to the workplace, insofar as doing so would not cause a…

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…