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With the assistance of California governor Gavin Newsom, fast food companies that supported a referendum to reverse the 2022 Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (“AB 257”) struck a deal with several labor unions, including the Service Employees International Union, to revise some of AB 257’s most controversial provisions.  In exchange for an agreement on this new bill (“AB 1228”), fast food companies agreed to withdraw the referendum that was set for a vote in 2024.Continue Reading California Fast Food Workers Look Forward to Pay Increases

Under UK data protection legislation, individuals, also called “data subjects”, have the right to make a data subject access request (DSAR) to organisations that “process” their personal data.  Similar rights are required by both the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act.  Amongst other things, as part of a DSAR, data subjects can expect to receive a copy of their personal data.Continue Reading A Rise in DSARs: Why Can Data Subject Access Requests Be Such a Burden?

On Wednesday, August 30, 2023, the National Labor Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) issued a pair of decisions—Wendt Corp., 372 NLRB No. 135, and Tecnocap LLC, 372 NLRB No. 136—that highlight the Board’s continued focus on increasing the power of organized labor and limiting employer authority.  The Wendt and Tenocap decisions overturn Raytheon Network Centric Systems, 365 NLRB No. 161, and Mike-Sell Potato Chip Co., 368 NLRB No. 145, which allowed employers to unilaterally change employees’ working conditions (during an initial contract negotiating period or while a new contract is being negotiated) so long as such changes were “similar in kind and degree” to the employer’s past practice (i.e., one that happened with “such regularity and frequency” that workers could expect it to happen again).Continue Reading NLRB Continues to Rewrite the Rules to Limit Employers’ Authority

In late 2022, Congress passed the SECURE Act 2.0, which, along with other items, introduced a new rule requiring that catch-up contributions made by highly compensated employees be made on a Roth after-tax basis only. Less than one year later, and only a few months before this new rule was to go into effect, the IRS issued Notice 2023-62, which provides highly anticipated transition relief for the Roth catch-up contribution rule by extending the compliance period by two years.Continue Reading Just Dropped: IRS Provides Relief on Roth Contributions for HCEs

Today, in perhaps the most significant change in federal labor law in more than 50 years, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) announced a new framework that determines when employers are required to recognize and bargain with a union upon demand, without a representation election. Continue Reading Unionization Upon Demand:NLRB Announces Most Significant Change to Labor Law in 50 Years

Amidst gridlock in the UK Parliament, the Worker Protection Bill (“the Bill”), an amendment to the Equality Act 2010 that was introduced to place a duty on employers to proactively protect employees from sexual harassment in the workplace, has been scaled back.Continue Reading New UK Employer Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment to Be Watered Down

Continuing with the White House’s push to revamp the employment landscape, the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) proposed regulations for federally funded construction projects will return to the definition of “prevailing wage” that was last used in 1983.  The agency’s proposed changes to the regulations that implement the Davis-Bacon Act are intended to speed up prevailing wage updates and will increase wages for construction workers over time.Continue Reading DOL Returns to Prior Davis-Bacon Act Wage Definition for Construction Industry

On August 7, 2023, the EEOC announced its proposed regulations relating to the enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”).  Passed in 2022, the PWFA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to workers affected by pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition.Continue Reading EEOC Proposes Regulations for Implementation of Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

On August 2, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) rejected an employer-friendly standard in favor of a modified and significantly less employer-friendly standard when evaluating whether a workplace rule violates the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).  Stericycle, 372 NLRB No. 113 (2023).  In recent years, the Board’s opinion of what constitutes interference, restraint or coercion under the NLRA has changed depending on who is in the White House or on the Board.  This new ruling confirms the Board’s intention to increase scrutiny of employer’s workplace rules and policies.Continue Reading NLRB to Start Scrutinizing Employer Policies More Closely