Workforce Bulletin

Featured on Employment Law This Week: The Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule will go into effect on June 9th.

The controversial rule will require financial professionals who advise clients on retirement accounts to promote suitable products and act in the best interests of their clients. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that there is “no principled legal basis” to delay the rule, although full enforcement won’t begin until 2018. The department intends to issue a Request for Information to seek public opinion on revisions and ...

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently issued guidance discussing certain disclosure and authorization requirements that employers must satisfy prior to obtaining background screening reports for prospective employees.  If your company obtains background information to screen prospective employees, now is a good time to make sure you are complying with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”).

Under the FCRA, background screening reports are either “consumer reports” or “investigative consumer reports” when they are used for employment purposes ...

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) previously announced the applicability date for the DOL’s fiduciary rule (the “Fiduciary Rule”) will be June 9, 2017.  On May 22, 2017, in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta disclosed that, despite the Administration’s agenda of deregulation, the regulators are required to following existing law and must enforce the Fiduciary Rule.  On the same date, the DOL announced, in Field Assistance Bulletin 2017-02 (“FAB 2017-2”), that during a transition period from June 9, 2017 until January 1 ...

On May 24, 2017, the New York City Council signed a bill banning retail employers in New York City from utilizing “on-call scheduling.” Given the unpredictable fluctuations in customer flow associated with retail business operations, retail employers have historically utilized “on-call” schedules in an effort to manage labor costs associated with running their businesses. Rather than provide employees with fixed work schedules, many retail employers place employees “on-call,” requiring them to call in shortly before their work shift is to start to ascertain if ...

Growing a company from the ground-up can be immensely rewarding but also challenging.  With the proliferation of start-up companies in this Digital Age, the question is often asked how a business can grow from a handful of like-minded individuals with a common goal while maintaining its culture and staying in compliance with a myriad of laws that impact its operations and workplace.  On May 17, 2017, Epstein Becker Green’s TMT service team was delighted to co-host with WeWork Dumbo Heights (Prospect): When Jeans Meet Suits: Keeping Your Startup Culture & Staying Compliant with ...

Since the early 1980s, the NLRB has vacillated back and forth on whether non-union employees are entitled to have a co-worker present during an investigatory interview that could result in discipline -- a right that has long been afforded union employees pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s holding in NLRB v. Weingarten, 420 U.S. 251 (1975). In the 42 years since the Supreme Court first extended this right to union employees in Weingarten, the NLRB has changed its position four times as to whether "Weingarten rights" extend to non-union employees.  In what can only be viewed ...

As a follow-up to our blog post from April 24, 2017, the New York Court of Appeals has issued its decision in Griffin v. Sirva, addressing the questions certified by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit regarding the scope of liability for employment discrimination based on an individual’s criminal history under the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”). In its May 4, 2017 opinion, the Court of Appeals held that only a worker’s employer may be liable for direct discrimination under NYSHRL § 296(15), while other entities who do not qualify as employers may be ...

While Congress’ attention has most recently been focused on the American Health Care Act, that bill will most likely not be the only proposed legislation that Congress will consider in 2017. It appears that a tax reform plan (the “2017 Tax Proposal”), which could also have a wide-reaching impact, is also on the agenda.

If the 2017 Proposal includes provisions relating to defined contribution retirement plans sponsored by private employers, such as 401(k) plans, the impact will be felt by employers and investment managers, as well as by plan participants. While the Trump ...