Workforce Bulletin

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, we’re focusing on three recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges against employers for violating whistleblower protection laws and how all employers should take extra steps to ensure compliance in their separation agreements:

Recent charges issued by the SEC represent a dramatic change in the enforcement of whistleblower protections. Epstein Becker Green attorney Greg Keating explains how this can impact all employers, both public and private, and should encourage them to take a closer look at their ...

On October 7, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 403 (“SB-403”), legislation that would have been the first state-wide ban on caste discrimination in the United States.  We previously reported on SB-403 here.

Governor Newsom released a veto message calling SB-403 “unnecessary.”  The message further explained his rationale that “discrimination based on caste is already prohibited” under California law, which “already prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender identity ...

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released proposed guidance on workplace harassment prohibited under federal law. The new guidance, posted on September 29, 2023, is available for public review and commentary until November 1, 2023. If finalized, this guidance will supersede five longstanding guidance documents issued from 1987 through 1999. In other words, this is the first proposed EEOC guidance on harassment in the past 25 years.

The Context

An agency press release notes that the EEOC last attempted to update its workplace harassment guidance ...

After more than five years in the making (and nearly a full year of delays), on Thursday, October 5, 2023, the World Wide Web Consortium (the “W3C”), the private organization focused on enhancing online user experiences, published the long-awaited update to its Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (“WCAG 2.1”), known as the WCAG 2.2 (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#new-features-in-wcag-2-2). 

Those who have been following along with website accessibility’s ever-evolving legal landscape are well aware that, despite not having been formally adopted by ...

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, we’re recapping the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) Strategic Enforcement Plan, California’s expanded sick leave requirement law, and the ongoing worker strikes across the country.

EEOC Releases Strategic Enforcement Plan

On September 21, the EEOC published its Strategic Enforcement Plan for fiscal years 2024 to 2028. In the first enforcement plan issued under the Biden administration, the EEOC sheds light on its current priorities.

California Expands Sick Leave Requirements

California is ...

On September 25, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit clarified what a whistleblower plaintiff must allege to demonstrate they had a “reasonable belief” that their employer violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”). In Ronnie v. Office Depot, LLC, the Eleventh Circuit adopted an employer-friendly “totality of the circumstances” standard for evaluating whether a plaintiff’s belief was “reasonable.” Ronnie is a win for employers in the Eleventh Circuit because it makes clear that, to establish that they engaged in protected ...

The start of autumn means cooler weather, falling leaves, and, for employers with New York employees, updates to the New York Paid Family Leave (“Paid Family Leave”) program.

The Paid Family Leave program provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected, partially-paid time off within a 52-week period to care for a family member with a serious health condition, bond with a newborn, or assist when a family member is deployed abroad on active military service. Since Paid Family Leave took effect in 2018, New York employers have seen several changes to the program ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently proposed regulations (the “Proposed Rule”) to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for additional conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. Issued on August 11, 2023, the Proposed Rule is currently open for public comment, and has, as of this writing, already received more  than 40,440 public submissions responding to the EEOC’s proposal. Many remarks address the fact that the EEOC included ...

While recent public attention has largely focused on generative artificial intelligence (AI), the use of AI for recruitment and promotion screening in the employment context is already widespread.  It can help HR-professionals make sense of data as the job posting and application process is increasingly conducted online. According to a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM),[1] nearly one in four organizations use automation and/or AI to support HR-related activities, such as recruitment, hiring, and promotion decisions, and that number is posed ...

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, we’re highlighting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) EEO-1 component 1 submission deadline, the EEOC and Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) new agency partnership, and recent settlements from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reminding employers to review their separation agreements.

EEOC Announces EEO-1 Submission Deadline

According to the EEOC, employers can submit their 2022 EEO-1 Component 1 data starting October 31, 2023. The final deadline for submissions is December 5.