In 2024, healthcare employers have faced several new challenges and developments regarding traditional labor obligations. Unions are becoming more prominent in healthcare, including by unionizing doctors at unprecedented rates and by becoming more involved in government-funded projects. At the same time, federal agencies are imposing significant new labor obligations on healthcare employers, regardless of whether or not they have unions representing their employees. While the Federal Trade Commission’s non-compete rule has garnered major attention (as we discussed further here and … Read the rest
We recently wrote about Colorado’s historic law aimed at protecting, among others, employees and employment applicants from harm arising out of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Although Colorado is the first state to pass legislation addressing AI-based discrimination, similar bills have been proposed in at least six other states as well as at the federal level, with a recent Executive Order discussing a wide range of issues arising from the private-sector use of AI systems, including discrimination in … Read the rest
We invite you to watch our webinar, “Deciphering the FTC’s Non-Compete Ban: Navigating the New Regulatory Terrain and Adequately Protecting Employers’ Interests.” Our multi-disciplinary team, comprised of Michael Wexler, Robert Milligan, Kate Perrelli, Suzie Saxman, Marc Fosse, and Cary Burke, dissected the ramifications of the new FTC rule banning most non-competes with workers and provided invaluable insights into how it impacts a variety of aspects of many businesses.
Here are the key takeaways from the webinar:
- Labor: The FTC rule
On October 4, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) No. 616 into law, which expands California’s mandatory paid sick leave from three days (or twenty-four hours) to five days (or forty hours). The increased paid sick leave requirements take effect on January 1, 2024.
Background
In 2014, California enacted the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (“HWHFA”), providing California employees with paid sick leave. The HWHFA became effective on July 1, 2015, and has been amended … Read the rest
Since 2020, most retirement funds have been faced with a situation where participating employers have failed to comply with section 13A of the Pension Funds Act, 1956 (PFA), by either underpaying employer or member contributions or not paying at all. The non-payment of contributions attracts late payment interest in terms of section 13(7) of the PFA.
It is against this background that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) repealed Regulation 33, which governed payment of pension fund contributions and … Read the rest
As a result of Governor Newsom’s signature on SB 1162, California will soon become the largest state requiring affirmative disclosure of pay scale information, thus contributing to the state’s ongoing effort to increase pay transparency. Effective January 1, 2023, many California employers will be required to include pay scale information in job postings and disclose pay scale information to current employees. The bill also makes significant changes to California’s existing pay data reporting requirements for private employers with 100 or … Read the rest
It’s not over.
We all knew that, though some of us — including me — were hoping for a least a bit of a respite during the spring and summer months.
No such luck. Indeed, after two years of avoiding the illness, we recently had a “visit” of COVID to our house; thankfully, the one family member who got it had fairly mild symptoms.
This latest wave is a bit stealthier because of the widespread use of at-home tests and … Read the rest
On April 6, the National Labor Relations Board announced that union representation petitions filed with the agency during the first six (6) months of the fiscal year had increased 57% from the previous year.[1] The very next day, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo announced yet another policy initiative to hamper employer efforts to resist union organizing. See GC 22-04, “The Right to Refrain from Captive Audience and other Mandatory Meetings.”
Specifically, the GC announced that she would seek to overturn … Read the rest