As we have reported, President Trump’s Executive Orders 14151 and 14173 targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) programs (the “DEI Orders”) have resulted in considerable legal activity addressing the...more
4/1/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
First Amendment ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Trump Administration
On March 19, 2025, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) jointly released new guidance addressing the legal implications of diversity, equity, and inclusion...more
3/21/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Retaliation ,
Title VII
On January 21, 2025, amid a flurry of executive orders, President Trump issued an executive order titled, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit Based Opportunity,” representing a critical change in federal policy...more
2/6/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
On November 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction enjoining the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Final Rule increasing the salary thresholds for the overtime...more
On August 20, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a nationwide ruling blocking the implementation of the final Noncompete Rule (the “Final Rule”) announced by the U.S. Federal...more
On July 3, 2024, in Ryan LLC et al. v. Federal Trade Commission, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a much-anticipated ruling on the final Noncompete Rule (the “Final Rule”) announced...more
7/9/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Texas
As widely covered, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”), in April 2024, issued a new rule that increased the salary thresholds for the overtime exemptions for executive, administrative, and professional (“EAP”)...more
In this episode, Mike Burke, AGG Corporate partner and co-chair of the firm’s International Initiative, is joined by Megan Mitchell, AGG Employment Law partner, to discuss the complexities of classifying independent...more
On April 15, 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced its Final Rule implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”), which went into effect in June 2023. Unless it is blocked by legal...more
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a final rule effectively banning non-compete agreements in the employment context. This final rule follows a proposed rule published by the FTC on January 5,...more
On March 11, 2024, after many months of anticipation, the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) final rule on independent contractor status went into effect. Meanwhile, on March 8, 2024, a revised joint employer rule announced by the...more
3/22/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Definition ,
Employees ,
Final Rules ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
Totality of Circumstances Test ,
Wage and Hour
In its first Field Assistance Bulletin of the year, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) offered new guidance regarding the application of certain key federal employment laws — the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the...more
With the reopening of large segments of the workplace and the emergence of the Delta variant, employers have grappled with difficult and often polarizing issues regarding how to implement COVID-19 vaccination protocols in the...more
Our podcast series, "AGG Talks: Solving Employers’ Problems," features AGG attorneys discussing challenges they have encountered when assisting clients on business and legal issues related to the employment relationship. HR...more
The healthcare industry has finally received long-awaited guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) regarding COVID-19 protection standards. On June 10, 2021, OSHA issued an Emergency Temporary...more
On May 28, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its COVID-19 Technical Assistance Questions and Answers (“Q&A”) page to add significant additional information regarding the range of options...more
Background - On March 12, 2021, OSHA announced that it is implementing a National Emphasis Program (“NEP”) designed to “ensure that employees in high-hazard industries or work tasks” are protected from contracting COVID-19....more
Earlier this month, the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) moved from a phase of “loan disbursement” to a phase of “loan forgiveness.” As explained in our August 11, 2020 Client Alert, the U.S. Small Business...more
Through the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), which was authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), banks certified as 7(a) lenders by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”)...more
On June 5, 2020, President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (“HR 7010” or the “PPP Amendment”) into law, after the House passed HR 7010 on May 29, 2020 and the Senate adopted HR 7010 by a...more
On May 13, 2020, SBA issued new guidance with respect to a borrower’s good faith certification that “[c]urrent economic uncertainty makes this loan request necessary to support the ongoing operations of the Applicant,” as...more
On May 5, 2020, SBA/Treasury finally answered the important question of whether a small business located in the US needed to count the number of employees of its “foreign affiliates” in its size standard eligibility...more
Businesses now have one extra week to conduct their risk/reward analyses to decide whether to return their PPP loans. In prior guidance (Treasury FAQ 31 and 37), the SBA reminded borrowers that they “should review carefully...more
Workforce Issues to Focus On in 2020 -
The start of a new year is always a good time for a business to take stock of past practices and future actions, including around workforce compliance issues. ...more
2/14/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Background Checks ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
FMCSA ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Independent Contractors ,
USCIS
Background screening is a hot topic in today’s employment sector and Arnall Golden Gregory’s (AGG) Background Screening Industry team is well prepared and versed to tend to the employers’ compliance needs. ...more