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Quick Hits Maine recently enacted a law requiring employers to notify employees and job applicants about employee surveillance. The law does not apply to cameras used in the workplace for safety and security purposes. The law took effect immediately without the governor’s signature. In recent years, more employers have begun using technology to track employee movements and actions. This may include cameras in the workplace, GPS tracking on phones and…

Quick Hits A jury in federal court recently awarded a former employee $5.5 million in her sexual harassment and retaliation case. A female security guard alleged that her boss sexually harassed and assaulted her, and that the company ended her employment after she complained to the company’s owner. Anti-harassment provisions in federal, state, and local laws may vary in scope and application. Background A former security guard sued C&M Defense…

Quick Hits The NLRB has implemented new case intake procedures requiring charging parties to submit evidence before their unfair labor practice cases are docketed. Under the new procedure, a failure to provide documentation and information supporting a charge within two weeks may lead to the dismissal of the charge. Designed to enhance efficiency in case handling and reduce the existing case backlog, the updated process may result in quicker resolutions…

Quick Hits Identifying Impacted Contracts: Review contract terms and engage your contracting officer to determine if contracts are affected by the shutdown. Responding to Stop-Work Orders: Stop-work orders typically require immediate compliance. When complying, be sure to document all related communications and actions. Proactive Communication: If no stop-work order is issued, seek written confirmation from your contracting officer on whether to continue work. Mitigation Strategies: Manage financial exposure, communicate with…

Quick Hits When an employee is required to be on duty for more than twenty-four hours, the FLSA allows employers to exclude up to eight hours of sleep time from compensable hours. This exclusion applies where: (1) there is an implied or express agreement to the exclusion; (2) the employer provides adequate sleeping facilities; and (3) the employee gets at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep. Nonexempt employees who are…

Quick Hits To avoid a partial government shutdown, a funding package for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor, Education, Treasury, State, and other agencies must pass the U.S. Senate before January 30, 2026. A government shutdown of these departments would suspend critical immigration functions, including PERM processing, prevailing wage determinations, and Labor Condition Applications. E-Verify would also likely be unavailable, and…

Quick Hits OFCCP issued an Information Collection Request on January 2, 2026, seeking to revise questions on its complaint and pre-complaint inquiry forms to align with Executive Order 14173. OFCCP issued a renewed Information Collection Request on January 7, 2026, seeking to extend existing recordkeeping requirements under VEVRAA. On January 20, 2026, an appropriation bill was introduced that proposed to fund OFCCP at $100,976,000 for fiscal year 2026. This appropriation…

Quick Hits Effective January 21, 2026, the State Department will pause issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from seventy-five designated countries. Nonimmigrant visas (e.g., H-1B, L-1, TN, and B-1/B-2) will continue to be processed and are not impacted by this directive. Scope and Designated Countries The seventy-five countries impacted by the announcement include: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma,…

Quick Hits The EEOC voted 2–1 along party lines to rescind the 2024 anti-harassment guidance that recognized harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity as unlawful under Title VII. The reversal aligns with the Trump administration and EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas’s federal policy shift to define sex as immutable and binary. This rescission follows a federal court ruling that the EEOC had overstepped its authority with the original guidance,…

Quick Hits On January 17, 2026, outgoing New Jersey governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill that will expand the reach and protections of the NJFLA. The new law also appears to greatly expand state law, including new job-protection provisions for employees taking medical leave. The new law takes effect on July 17, 2026, six months following its enactment. Smaller Employers Affected and Newer Employees Eligible The new law…

Quick Hits USCIS will continue to accept adjustment of status filings based on the Dates for Filing Chart in February 2026. All EB-3 categories advance, except India and China-mainland. EB-4 Certain Religious Workers (SR) is Unavailable (U) in February 2026 due to the program’s sunset on January 30, 2026. Final Action Dates The final action dates in the EB-3 category advance for all countries except for China-mainland and India in…

Quick Hits The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit provided guidance in a recent unpublished opinion on leave and remote work as reasonable accommodations under the ADA and West Virginia Human Rights Act. Indefinite leave is not a reasonable accommodation as a matter of law. Remote work is not a reasonable accommodation for an employee who is receiving short-term disability insurance benefits, which typically are awarded only when…