The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) gives employees the right to unionize and imposes obligations on employers to collectively bargain with unions representing their employees. Failing to recognize those rights and...more
3/14/2024
/ Chamber of Commerce ,
Contract Terms ,
Employee Definition ,
Joint Employers ,
Jurisdiction ,
New Rules ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
SCOTUS ,
Third-Party ,
Vacated
With increasingly diverse and complex work arrangements, companies face challenges in answering a seemingly basic legal question: Is a worker an employee of the company, or an independent contractor?
On June 13, the...more
Key Points -
On June 13, 2023, the NLRB issued a decision in Atlanta Opera tightening the legal standard for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor exempt from the requirements of the NLRA and returning...more
Key Points -
The NLRB’s General Counsel issued a memorandum providing her position on the NLRB’s recent decision in McLaren Macomb, holding that employers may not offer severance agreements with broad confidentiality or...more
Key Points -
On February 21, 2023, the NLRB issued a decision in McLaren Macomb holding that employers may not offer severance agreements with broad confidentiality or non-disparagement clauses to union and non-union...more
Key Points -
In an unprecedented step, the Federal Trade Commission has proposed a categorical, nationwide ban on non-compete clauses between employers and employees (or independent contractors). According to the FTC’s...more
1/16/2023
/ Competition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
Rising inflation, increased costs of capital and the anticipation of a downturn in the economy have caused companies in many industries to begin to implement workforce reorganizations and reductions. In making plans for...more
Key Points -
Originally poised to be one of the broadest non-compete bans in the country, Washington, D.C.’s scaled-back non-compete law became enforceable on October 1, 2022.
The new law prohibits non-competition...more
On August 11, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated COVID-19 guidance “to help people better understand their risk, how to protect themselves and others, what actions to take if exposed to...more
8/25/2022
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
A massive shift is underway in the relationship between workers and companies. Fueled in recent years by the COVID-19 pandemic and tight job market, the changes reflect not just evolving sensibilities of how employers treat...more
5/24/2022
/ ABC Test ,
At-Will Employment ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint and Several Liability
Key Points The EFASASHA will invalidate most contractual provisions requiring the arbitration of claims alleging sexual assault or sexual harassment. The law will also invalidate pre-dispute joint-action waivers that relate...more
Key Points -
President Biden’s July 9, 2021 executive order encouraged the FTC to exercise its statutory rulemaking authority to curtail the unfair use of noncompete agreements.
Effective March 1, 2022, a person who...more
On Friday, July 9, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 14036, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy”. In the ensuing months, federal agencies have begun to implement the EO’s 72 initiatives to address...more
1/6/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Executive Orders ,
Food Supply ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Poultry ,
Supply Chain ,
USDA
In this special episode, Akin Gump labor and employment practice head Bob Lian and partner Lauren Leyden welcome noted epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Ostroff to update listeners on workplace issues related to...more
Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia granted a nationwide preliminary injunction against enforcement of Executive Order 14042 involving the vaccine mandate for federal contractors. The...more
Key Points: On November 11, 2021, the General Counsel to the NLRB issued a Memorandum concerning implementation of the OSHA ETS in unionized workplaces.
The Memorandum is important to unionized employers because it...more
11/16/2021
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
OSHA ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Key Points -
On November 4, 2021, OSHA issued an ETS requiring that all employers with 100 or more employees ensure that their employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4, 2022, or tested weekly. By December...more
11/5/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Key Points -
The NLRB’s General Counsel issued a memorandum providing her position that the NLRA protects student-athletes who “perform services for their colleges and the NCAA, in return for compensation” and are...more
10/1/2021
/ Alston v NCAA ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Name and Likeness ,
NCAA ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Student Athletes ,
Unions
Key Points -
The recent announcements around federal contractor requirements for mandatory vaccination and the upcoming OSHA Emergent Temporary Standard have created significant confusion for employers.
It’s important...more
10/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Key Points -
On August 12, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) recently appointed General Counsel issued a memorandum requiring reexamination of labor law doctrine in several key areas. The memorandum is...more
To account for legal developments since our last FAQ concerning employer COVID-19 vaccination policies, we provide updated answers to questions and address additional questions about discrimination, wage and hour, collective...more
8/9/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Incentive Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRB ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In this episode, Akin Gump labor and employment practice head Bob Lian and partner Lauren Leyden discuss employer vaccine mandates related to coronavirus....more
On Friday, July 9, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 14036, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy” (see recent alert here). The EO includes 72 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies in an...more
Many employers in the retail, construction, service, entertainment, manufacturing and transportation industries contribute to multiemployer defined benefit pension plans (MEPs) on behalf of their unionized employees. A large...more
7/14/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) ,
PBGC ,
Pension Reform ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Withdrawal Liability
Key Points -
On Friday, July 9, 2021, President Biden issued EO 14036, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” The EO includes 72 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies in an aim to address competition...more