Workforce Bulletin

Frustrating news has emerged from Washington D.C. as the recently-published federal government’s Fall Semiannual Regulatory Agenda revealed that the long-anticipated U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) for regulations governing website accessibility for places of public accommodation under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“Title III”) would not be issued in the Spring of 2016 as most recently anticipated and would instead be delayed until fiscal year 2018.  DOJ now intends to issue a NPRM governing ...

Frustrating news has emerged from Washington D.C. as the recently-published federal government’s Fall Semiannual Regulatory Agenda revealed that the long-anticipated U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) for regulations governing website accessibility for places of public accommodation under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“Title III”) would not be issued in the Spring of 2016 as most recently anticipated and would instead be delayed until fiscal year 2018.  DOJ now intends to issue a NPRM governing ...

Frustrating news has emerged from Washington D.C. as the recently-published federal government’s Fall Semiannual Regulatory Agenda revealed that the long-anticipated U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) for regulations governing website accessibility for places of public accommodation under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“Title III”) would not be issued in the Spring of 2016 as most recently anticipated and would instead be delayed until fiscal year 2018.  DOJ now intends to issue a NPRM governing ...

Employment Law This Week – Epstein Becker Green’s new video program – features an interview with attorney John Fullerton, a founding contributor to this blog.

Mr. Fullerton discusses the lack of clarity on what constitutes a whistleblower. Marketing firm Neo@Ogilvy has decided not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that would have tested the definition of a whistleblower under the Dodd-Frank Act. At issue is whether an employee can be eligible for anti-retaliation protection under the Dodd-Frank Act even if he or she does not provide information of ...

Employment Law This Week – Epstein Becker Green’s new video program – has an interview with attorney Valerie Butera, editor of this blog, on OSHA's first fine increases in 25 years.

Under a new bipartisan budget bill, OSHA civil penalties will rise next year to reflect the difference between the Consumer Price Index in 1990 and in 2015 - an increase of as much as 82%. After this "catch up" adjustment, the fines will keep pace with inflation moving forward. Valerie describes how employers can boost their safety programs and avoid OSHA citations.

See below to view the ...

OSHA has been unable to increase the civil penalties it can impose when an employer is cited for a violation since 1990.  But that is all about to change.  Hidden within the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, signed by President Obama on November 2, 2015, is a provision requiring OSHA to significantly increase its civil penalties.  A one-time “Catch Up Adjustment” will be based on the percentage difference between the Consumer Price Index in October 2015 (to be released later this month) and October 1990 – resulting in a penalty increase of approximately 80%.  This means that the $7,000 cap ...

Employers in the technology, media and telecommunications industry are faced with many workplace management and legal compliance challenges.  Among these are trends in the shared economy and rise of the contingent workforce, data privacy and security, and use of social media in connection with recruitment, employee monitoring and termination.  At the recent  Epstein Becker Green 34^th Annual Workforce Management Briefing held at the New York Hilton, members of the firm’s TMT Group including the authors of this post, along with in-house counsel speakers Rebecca Clar of AOL and ...

Employment Law This Week - a new video program from Epstein Becker Green - has a story this week about on-call shifts and the challenges they’re facing in court.

Both BCBG and Forever 21 have been hit with class-action wage theft suits over on-call scheduling. Many retailers are ending this practice, including Urban Outfitters, which was cited for possible violations of New York's requirement to pay hourly staff for at least four hours when they report for work.

On August 12, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued its decision in  Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Civil Action No. 14-529 (D.D.C. Aug. 12, 2015) (“Washington Alliance”). In this case, the Court found that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) had failed to satisfy proper procedural requirements when the agency originally issued its April 2008 interim final rule (the “2008 Rule”) permitting F-1 foreign students who graduated with STEM (acronym for Science, Technology ...

In one of the news stories on Employment Law This Week - Epstein Becker Green's new video program - EBG attorney George Whipple details OSHA’s recently increased focus on the health care and nursing care industries. The agency’s fines have historically been very low, but recently OSHA cited medical patient transportation company LifeFleet for several violations totaling more than $235,000. See below to view the episode or read more about how to stay compliant and avoid heavy fines.