The Department of Labor has pulled back from its policy of seeking liquidated damages – or “double” damages – against employers in wage and hour investigations. On June 24, 2020, the DOL issued a field assistance bulletin which stated that it will no longer apply the default policy of seeking pre-litigation liquidated damages from employers […]
Agency Activity
EEOC, DOL, and OSHA Activity For Employers To Note
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has delayed the submission of this year’s EEO-1 forms until March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each year, employers must submit demographic workforce data by March 31 for the prior calendar year. The EEOC determined to collect both 2019 and 2020 data in March 2021 given the challenging […]
Maryland Employers Required to Report Sex Harassment Settlements By July 1st
n May 2018, my colleague Randi Hyatt posted about the “Disclosing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Act of 2018” (“Act”). The Act went into effect on October 1, 2018 and has a sunset provision for June 30, 2023. The Act established the requirement for employers with at least 50 employees (at all locations, not exclusively […]
Federal Court Blocks Implementation Of New Election Rules
In December 2019 the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a final rule to amend the procedures to be followed in union representation cases. The NLRB said the purpose of the final rule was “to permit parties additional time to comply with various pre-election requirements instituted in 2015, to clarify and reinstate some procedures that […]
DOL Issues New Final Rule on Retail or Service Establishment Overtime Exemption
On May 19, 2020, the United States Department of Labor issued a new final rule that overhauls its 60-year old regulatory guidance on the types of industries that fall within the “retail or service establishment” overtime exemption. The change may result in more employers being able to take advantage of this exemption. Under Section 207(i) […]
COVID-19 and the ADA
The EEOC issued on March 19, 2020 an FAQ entitled What You Should Know About the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and COVID-19 that contains important guidance for employers adjusting to the new reality presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act continue to apply, they do not […]
EEOC Enforcement Data Shows Decrease In Overall Complaints For FY19
On Friday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released its charge-filing statistics for fiscal year 2019, which began October 1, 2018 and ended September 30, 2019. Overall, the Commission received 72,675 charges of discrimination in FY19, down from 76,418 in 2018. Not surprisingly, retaliation charges continued to make up a majority of claims at 39,110 or […]
DOL Issues New Guidance On Joint Employment
On January 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule that will significantly revise its longstanding interpretation of joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This update marks the first substantive change to the federal regulation concerning joint employer status (29 CFR Part 791) in over 60 years, […]
DOL Rolls Out New and Proposed Rules Regarding FLSA Pay Requirements
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently took two actions implicating and potentially implicating, respectively, how employees are paid under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). A New Rule First, on September 27, the DOL issued a final rule on implementing the exemptions from minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for executive, administrative, professional, […]
Employers: Don’t Be Part of the Department of Labor’s Statistics
The Department of Labor is reporting that it collected $322 million in back wages for workers in fiscal year 2019, which is a record. The amount collected in fiscal year 2018 was also a record at that time. This should put to rest any concerns about DOL enforcement policies under a Republican administration. Most of […]
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