Labor & Employment Law Update

On January 31, 2020, the United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the release of a new version of the Form I-9, version 10/21/2019. This new version contains only minor changes to the Form I-9 itself and  to the Form I-9 instructions.  

The one key thing employers must be aware of is that the issuance of the new version of the Form I-9 impacts what version an employer may use going forward. According to the USCIS press release, until April 30, 2020, employers can use either: (1) the new Form I-9, version 10/21/2019 or (2) Form I-9 with a revision date of 07/17/2017 N. On ...

In the face of billions of dollars of potential liability at trial, social media giant, Facebook, opted for the finality of a class-wide settlement—to the tune of $550 million—reached with Illinois users complaining of violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Facebook explained that the settlement was “in the best interest of [its] community and shareholders.” If approved by the court, the $550 million settlement will be the largest of its kind and will put an end to a case where Plaintiffs alleged that Facebook violated BIPA by collecting ...

2020 has already proven to be a busy year for changes in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  Below is a summary of the changes thus far: 

1. New FLSA Salary Threshold (Effective January 1, 2020)

As previously reported, as of January 1, 2020, the FLSA requires employers to pay all salary exempt employees at least $684/week (equivalent to $35,568 per year for a full-year worker).

2. Changes to the FLSA Regulations Regarding the “Regular Rate of Pay” for Purposes of Calculating Overtime (Effective January 15, 2020)

The FLSA generally requires nonexempt employees to receive overtime ...

On January 7th, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued its first Opinion Letter of 2020, and the Letter serves as a reminder to businesses that retroactive overtime payments may be necessary if non-discretionary bonuses are paid to non-exempt (hourly-paid) employees.

The scenario at issue in the Letter is that an employer had an announced policy through which employees were paid a $3,000 bonus after they completed ten weeks of training.  A particular employee worked 40 hours per week in eight of those ten weeks. But in the fifth week he worked 47 hours, and in the ...

Following the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which made major changes affecting taxpayer withholding, the IRS announced it would be redesigning Form W-4. The new W-4 has officially been released, creating confusion and questions (at the time of this article the new federal 2020 W-4 can be found on the IRS website).

First and foremost, employers do NOT need to get all employees to sign a new W-4. According to IRS Publication 15, employers are to remind employees before December 1 each year to submit a new W-4 form if their withholding allowances have changed or will change for the ...

The average life expectancy in the U.S. has declined for three consecutive years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) links that decline to three factors: the rise in drug overdoses, an increase in liver disease, and a rise in suicide rates. More than 2 million Americans from all walks of life suffer from an opioid use disorder (OUD), and about two-thirds of those people are in the workforce. This has a tremendous financial impact on employers:  In 2016, U.S. large employers covered $2.6 billion on treatment for OUD and overdose, up from $0.3 billion in 2004.  

OUD ...

While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Clearinghouse Rule became effective on January 4, 2017, it has been a while so here is a reminder that the Rule goes into effect on January 6, 2020, just over a week away.

Despite delays, be assured the Clearinghouse website is now allowing employers to register.  So before you open that first present or have an eggnog in your favorite moose mug to enjoy the holidays, make sure you are registered and understand the new requirements. While the Clearinghouse’s FAQ’s are extremely helpful in providing ...

This month, two federal circuit court of appeals reversed district courts’ grants of summary judgment in cases filed under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). With these twin cases, it seems as good of a time as any to provide a brief refresher on employee rights and employer obligations regarding those in military service. 

On December 3, 2019, the Tenth Circuit reversed a decision by the U.S. District Court of Kansas in Greer v. City of Wichita, which dismissed an USERRA claim alleging that a city museum denied an employee an interview for a ...

It has been a busy week for the National Labor Relations Board which issued three decisions in quick succession on December 16 and 17. Each of the three is a clear win for employers.

In the first of the three, the Board restored employers’ right to stop deducting and remitting union dues after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement requiring it to do so. Valley Hospital Medical Center, 368 NLRB No. 139 (2019). The Board held that so-called “dues checkoff provisions” exist only by virtue of the parties’ contract and therefore cease when that contract expires ...

On December 13, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued notice of new regulations designed to materially change what is commonly referred to as the “Quickie Election” Rule. The new regulations, set to take effect on April 16, 2020, will materially help employers combat labor unions in the private sector by primarily providing more time to react to and educate the workforce on the “Good, Bad & Ugly” of what union representation actually means to workers.  

As a brief reminder… the “Quickie Election” Rule is a set of unprecedented regulations that the Obama ...