Some cannabis workers in recent months have grown weary of their unions and have voted the unions out – or, in labor terms, “decertified” them. This has happened in two different Cresco Labs facilities. The first occurred at...more
On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced its final rule increasing the salary thresholds for the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime exemptions for executive, administrative, professional, and...more
4/26/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
UPDATE: The Biden administration has announced that the implementation of this rule will be delayed by 60 days to provide for further review. Originally scheduled to go into effect on March 1, 2021, the rule now has an...more
As we previously blogged, “agricultural employees” are excluded from coverage under the federal National Labor Relations Act, which governs unionization. The National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice (which...more
1/28/2021
/ Agricultural Workers ,
Biden Administration ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
State and Local Government ,
Unions
On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule revising certain regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) related to tipped employees. However, because of the timing of the new rule,...more
12/30/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Rules ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
In a recent decision, the Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for Region 1 (covering most of New England) found that a majority of employees of a cannabis cultivation and processing facility were...more
On September 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) unveiled its long-awaited proposed independent contractor rule. The new rule sets forth a new standard for determining whether a worker can be classified as an...more
Spurred by the uptick in remote work due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") recently issued a new Field Assistance Bulletin clarifying employers’ obligations to pay hourly, non-exempt...more
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. employers have struggled with how to address the unanticipated ramifications of the pandemic while at the same time meeting their obligations under federal labor law. ...more
8/20/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hazard Pay ,
Layoffs ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Retaliation ,
Sick Leave ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Wrongful Termination
In March 2020, Congress enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which provided emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and emergency paid family medical leave (EPFML) to millions of workers needing time off for...more
8/6/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EPSLA ,
Essential Workers ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Medical Leave ,
Paid Leave ,
Required Documentation
On July 21, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board simplified its legal standard for determining whether an employer violates the National Labor Relations Act when it disciplines employees for engaging in abusive conduct...more
On July 17, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in an issue of first impression, ruled that an Amazon delivery driver who brought a class action misclassification claim against the company was a transportation...more
As businesses across the country move toward re-opening in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) continues to provide updates to its guidance to employers relating to...more
In December 2019, the National Labor Relations Board announced revised procedures for union elections that would extend certain pre-election deadlines and require certain disputes be resolved ahead of an election... These...more
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidance for employers who operate in office buildings. The CDC’s guidance provides recommendations on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within office...more
6/4/2020
/ Air Quality Standards ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Health and Safety ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Sick Employees ,
Social Distancing ,
Ventilation Systems ,
Virus Testing ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Safety
On May 20, 2020, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) released a Final Rule authorizing employers that use the “fluctuating workweek” method for calculating employees’ regular rates of pay to award employees additional...more
On May 18, 2020, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule eliminating a list of businesses prohibited from taking advantage of the commission sales exemption to the overtime...more
On Sunday, May 10, 2020, a groundbreaking New York City law went into effect prohibiting most employers from requiring job applicants to submit to marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) tests during the hiring process. The...more
Since Congress’s quick passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) in late March, the Department of Labor has continued to issue guidance interpreting this new law. While the Department published its...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration has released a new memo addressing employers’ obligations under the Occupational Safety & Health Act (“OSHA”) with respect to COVID-19. The new memo...more
On Wednesday, April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued new formal regulations interpreting the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Those regulations largely formalized the informal guidance the DOL has...more
Late March 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) offered employers some important guidance on complying with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which President Trump signed into law last week. DOL...more
On the evening of Wednesday, March 18, 2020 the President signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides various forms of emergency relief to directly address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic....more
In Massachusetts, a commission is a wage subject to the Wage Act when the amount of the commission “has been definitely determined and has become due and payable.” Accordingly, an employer’s failure to pay a commission which...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released the final version of its new “joint employer” rule. The rule limits the scenarios in which businesses will be treated as joint employers under the Fair Labor Standards...more