Insights on Labor, Employment & OSHA

ArentFox Schiff Partners Darrell Gay and Mamta Shah recently partnered with Capalino’s Travis Terry and Jeanne Mullgrav for an important conversation about recent US Supreme Court decisions and strategies businesses should be considering for addressing these crucial issues now and in the future.

On July 26, 2022, Massachusetts joined seventeen other states which prohibit race discrimination based on natural hairstyles when Governor Charlie Baker signed the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (“Crown”) Act, which bans discrimination based on hairstyles at work and school.

Partner Mamta Shah recently spoke with Corporate Counsel about the potential risks faced from law enforcement seeking information by companies that wish to offer travel benefits to employees who obtain abortion services out-of-state.

On July 12, 2022, the Council of the District of Columbia voted to amend the District of Columbia’s Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020 (the “Act”). Implementation of the Act has been delayed on several occasions and is currently set to occur on October 1, 2022. 

Sometimes, a wage and hour decision touches upon several noteworthy issues, either addressing them for the first time, in new contexts, or serving as a good reminder on topics.

Last month, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed into law HB 78, which amends the state’s equal employment opportunity law to require employers to reasonably accommodate a job applicant’s known disability. 

Partner Jill Steinberg spoke with The American Lawyer about ArentFox Schiff’s new Reproductive Health Task Force and the legal challenges that were created when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

In Khoiny v. Dignity Health, the California Court of Appeal held that hospital residency programs are primarily employment programs and medical residents are primarily employees. Therefore, courts should not give special deference to residency programs’ termination decisions.

ArentFox Schiff LLP announced today the launch of its Reproductive Health Task Force to counsel clients on legal issues stemming from the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

Under federal and California law, employers must include most bonuses and incentives in the “regular rate” for paying overtime, as well as meal and rest period premium pay. Often, such as with a monthly or quarterly bonus, an employer pays a bonus or incentive after paying overtime worked.

In a recently issued 8 to 1 Decision in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, the United States Supreme Court held that individual claims based on the “only in California” Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) may be compelled to arbitration.

The US Supreme Court has held that airline cargo loaders who load and unload cargo from planes that travel across state lines are exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) because they belong to a “class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.”

Companies are facing enormous social, cultural, and political issues, from the reversal of Roe v. Wade and a focus on LGBTQ laws to the recent massacre in Buffalo, racial and social justice issues are once again at the forefront.

California employers do not have to pay applicants for time or expenses related to taking a pre-employment drug test, when the employer made hiring contingent on passing the test, according to a recent decision. 

Medical marijuana has been legal, in the District of Columbia, since 2010. And since 2015, the City has permitted adults to use marijuana recreationally. Earlier this month, the City Council went further by unanimously passing a bill to protect many marijuana users against adverse job actions.

During the Trump administration, the National Labor Relations Board was not known for advancing immigrant worker rights. That changed last year, when Jennifer Abruzzo became its general counsel.

Over two decades ago, in Brown v. Brody, 199 F.3d 446, 457 (DC Cir. 1999), the DC Circuit held that an employer that discriminatorily denies or forces an employee to accept a job transfer violates Title VII only if the employee suffers “objectively tangible harm,” like reduced pay or benefits. 

Join us on Monday, June 27 at 12:00 PM ET where we will be joined by moderators Darrell Gay and Jay Jamrog and joined by Andrea Hagelgans, Todd Jacobson, Kurt Fischer, and David Grosso.

On June 15, Lina Khan was sworn in as Chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Khan announced that the agency plans to use enforcement actions to curtail the use of covenants not to compete.

The 2022 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business has recognized 66 ArentFox Schiff attorneys as leaders in their field.

In her recently-filed brief to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) in Cemex Construction, 28-CA-230115, NLRB General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, continues her campaign to significantly curtail longstanding employer rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Elena Kagan, the US Supreme Court ruled that in determining whether a party has waived its right to enforce an arbitration agreement, the party asserting waiver does not have to show that it was prejudiced.

In its latest decision on meal and rest period issues, the California Supreme Court unanimously held that premium pay owed employees for meal and rest break violations can be a basis for imposing waiting time and wage statement penalties on employers.

If yours is one of the many companies considering new employment incentives, enhanced benefits, and retention bonuses, you should also consider taking another look at your non-compete covenants at the same time. They might already be outdated and unenforceable.

This week, in a memorandum addressed to all Regional Directors, Officers-in-Charge, and Resident Officers, the Board’s Office of the General Counsel announced a new protocol designed to advance immigrant worker protections to freely exercise their NLRA rights and safely participate.