Labor and Employment

EEOC Provides Employers With Key Workplace Investigation Tips: Your 5 Biggest Questions Answered

by Fisher Phillips in Human Resources, Legal, Safety & Security. Posted June 21, 2024

Employers recently received some helpful guidance from federal workplace officials to ensure your workplace investigations run smoothly, comply with legal standards, and put you in the best position to reach a fair and reasonable outcome. The EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace contained some valuable information about investigations that you might have overlooked ...

Pride Month is Here: Employer Resources for Supporting LGBTQ+ Workers and Staying Compliant All Year Long

by Fisher Phillips in Human Resources, Legal. Posted June 7, 2024

Federal employment protections for LGBTQ+ individuals have greatly expanded over the past four years. While the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) remains committed to preventing workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, this area of the law keeps evolving. You might feel overwhelmed or confused by rapidly changing and sometimes contradictory developments. ...

10 Steps Employers Should Take to Protect Workers this Summer as Feds Prepare to Finalize Heat Rule

by Fisher Phillips in Human Resources, Legal, Safety & Security. Posted May 23, 2024

Employers need to take action to protect workers from heat illnesses and injuries as temperatures begin to rise nationwide – not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because federal workplace safety officials are finalizing a stringent new heat rule that would considerably raise the stakes for employers. The Occupational Safety and Health ...

FP Hospitality Industry Snapshot: Hospitality Employers Must Quickly Prepare for New Overtime Rule With 7 Steps

by Fisher Phillips in Human Resources, Legal. Posted May 16, 2024

Hospitality employers will likely feel a big impact from the new federal overtime rule, which significantly raises the exempt salary threshold for certain employees in two phases. Specifically, the salary threshold for the so-called “white-collar” exemptions will rise from $35K to about $44K on July 1 and will jump to nearly $59K at the start ...

FTC Finalizes Non-Compete Rule – Prohibiting All New Non-Compete Agreements

by Jordan Schwartz in Human Resources, Legal. Posted May 14, 2024

As many of you may have heard by now, on April 23, 2024, almost exactly one year after it set forth its Proposed Rule regarding Non-Compete Clauses, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a pre-publication version of its final Non-Compete Clause Rule (the “Final Rule”). Barring judicial interference, the Final Rule will likely go into effect in ...

New EEOC Workplace Harassment Guidance on LGBTQ+ Workers and More Takes Effect Immediately: 5 Key Takeaways for Employers

by Fisher Phillips in Human Resources, Legal, Safety & Security. Posted April 30, 2024

Employers may need to update their harassment-prevention policies, procedures, and trainings now that the federal government released long-anticipated guidance on the topic. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s enforcement guidance on harassment in the workplace was updated yesterday for the first time in 30 years to adapt existing standards to the modern workplace. Specifically, the agency ...

Starbucks Asks SCOTUS for Clearer Standard for NLRB Injunctions: What Employers Need to Know

by Fisher Phillips in Human Resources, Legal, Risk Management. Posted April 23, 2024

In a case before the Supreme Court, Starbucks says it fired several employees for violating valid company policies — but the National Labor Relations Board convinced a lower court to reinstate the employees while a legal battle ensues over whether they were actually fired for engaging in union organizing activities. The coffee chain argues the ...

FTC Targets Employers Utilizing Worker Surveillance Technologies

by Darius Rohani-Shukla in Human Resources, Legal, Safety & Security, Technology. Posted April 4, 2024

When used appropriately, worker surveillance technologies like time and attendance software, video surveillance systems, GPS tracking software, and biometric technology can benefit employers in a variety of ways, including by boosting productivity, identifying internal and external cybersecurity threats, and even preventing or responding to workplace accidents. However, employers must be careful that employee monitoring programs ...

3 AI Bills in Congress for Employers to Track: Proposed Laws Target Automated Systems, Workplace Surveillance, And More

by Fisher Phillips in Human Resources, Legal, Safety & Security, Technology. Posted April 2, 2024

Employers that use artificial intelligence – and developers that create AI systems – could be subject to extensive new laws under several bills introduced by federal legislators. While much of the existing legal landscape on AI centers on broad, overarching principles, Congress is now considering bills that hone in on more specific issues like the ...

New York Lawmakers Aim to Close Loopholes in NYC’s AI Bias Audit Law and Add Teeth to Workplace Protections

by Fisher Phillips in Human Resources, Legal. Posted March 28, 2024

At least two proposed bills pending before the New York State Legislature would force employers to conduct bias audits and provide high levels of transparency if they use AI-fueled automated employment decision tools for employment decisions. This is something that NYC’s first-in-the-nation bias audit law was supposed to accomplish but in some ways fell short. These ...