Compliance Stuff

Banning noncompete agreements has been a trend in recent years. Noncompete agreements, referred to as “restrictive covenants”, are contracts that are designed to prevent workers from leaving their current employer to work immediately for a competitor.  The restrictive covenant oftentimes establishes a specific timeframe that employees need to wait before beginning work for said competitor. The ban will go into effect   120 days   from publication in the Federal Register.   US Employers will also be required to give notice before the effective date to workers whose noncompete agreements will be no longer enforceable.    The Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business lobby, are joining forces with a growing number of employers arguing that noncompete agreements serve as an important purpose to protecting an employer's investment in employees as well as proprietary information and intellectual property.   Compliance will continue to follow this an...

  On April 17, 2025, SCOTUS held that an employee challenging a job transfer in an unlawful employment discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 must show that the transfer caused  some identifiable harm,  but the harm does not need to  be significant. The ruling may open the door for more Title VII discrimination claims beyond those alleging traditional claims over adverse employment actions, including reverse discrimination claims challenging DEI programs.   Source(s):  Ogletree Deakins , received on April 24, 2024;  EEOC , accessed on April 25, 2024.

Effective January 1, 2025, employers with employees with 21 or more employees working in Burien (King County) will  be required to pay their employees a minimum wage of at least $2.00 over the Washington State hourly wage.   If an employer has 20 or fewer FTEs, they are exempt from this ordinance.   Source(s):  GovDocs , received on April 23, 2024.

On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, the Biden-Harris administration announced that a final rule that increases overtime protections for the nation's lower-paid salaried workers to exempt salaried bona fide executive, administrative or professional employees from federal overtime pay requirements.   This rule ensures salaried workers making less than  $58,656  receive fair pay for working over 40 hours---meaning, they will qualify for overtime.     By increasing the salary threshold, this will be giving more workers pay or valuable time back with their family:  by better identifying which employees are executive, administrative or professional employees who should be overtime exempt.  The rule ensures that those employees who are not exempt, receive time-and-a-half pay when working more than 40 hours in a week or gain more time with their families.   The rule will also establish regular to the salary thresholds every three years to reflect changes in earni...

The Biden-Harris administration announces rule to protect retirement investors' savings.  The US Department of Labor has finalized the Retirement Security Rule---to protect workers who are saving for retirement and rely on advice from trusted professionals o how to invest their savings. This regulation is effective on September 23, 2024. To do this, the rule has updated the definition of an investment advice fiduciary under ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code.   The final rule requires trusted investment advice providers to give prudent, loyal, honest advice free from overcharges.  These fiduciaries must adhere to high standards of care and loyalty when they recommend investments and to not recommend investments that favor the investment advice provider's interest - financial or otherwise - at the retirement savers' expense.   Under the final rule and amended exemptions, the financial institutions overseeing investment advice ...

Compliance reported on how Oregon removed some of the redundancy that was within several paid leave laws already established in Oregon back in  March . Employees will still have the option to use available paid time off available through their employer, such as PTO or vacation to cover them Oregon Family Leave Act leave or Paid Leave Oregon “leaves”.  Employers will be able to cap the use of these benefits with an employee is on PLO leave, so the combined payment to the employee while on leave equals 100% wage replacement.  As it stands right now (before July 1, 2024, employees are able to exceed 100% wage replacement.   It is expected that Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries will issue regulations to clarify the new law and employers should be cognizant of any additional guidance.   The Compliance Department will report any new changes as they become available.    Source(s):  GovDocs , received on April 18, 2024.

  On April 15, 2024, the EEOC finalized a rule that will require employees to accommodate workers who may need time off or other workplace modifications for an abortion procedure or recovery.  This development will soon impact the federal pregnancy accommodation law (PWFA) that took effect in 2023.   With regards to the PWFA, an employer with at least 15 employees to consider employee and applicant accommodation requests related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions the same way they consider accommodation related to disabilities under the ADA.   JD Supra reported that they reviewed the entire EEOC Release (408 pages!)  and was able to summarize the eight biggest developments - Happy reading! 1. Broad Coverage Includes Abortion-Related Accommodations The finalized rule contains a  very broad definition of “pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.”  A non-exhaustive list of possible circumstances that fall within the broad ...

With the Los Angeles City Council passed the minimum wage ordinance in 2015, since July 1, 2022, the minimum has adjusted based on the consumer price index for the Los Angeles metro area.     Source(s):  GovDocs , received on April 16, 2024;  wagesla.lacity.org , accessed on April 19, 2024.

  On May 29, 2024, the Maryland Senate approved House Bill 649, Labor and Employment - Equal Pay for Equal Work - Wage Range Transparency (HB 649).  Employers of any size will be required to:   include in all public and internal job postings for any position that is performed, at least in part, in Maryland the wage range, general description of benefits, and any other compensation offered for the position;   disclose the information above to any applicant that did not receive it both before discussing compensation with the applicant and when the applicant requests it; and   keep records showing compliance with the pay transparency requirements for each position for at least three years after the position is filled, or, if the position is not filed, the date the position was initially posted.     Source(s):  JD Supra , received on April 15, 2024;   Maryland General Assembly , accessed on April 19, 2024

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has completed its review of the DOL rule that can make changes to the overtime exemptions implementing the Fair Labor Standards Act.  The proposed regulation may increase the s alary basis threshold to at least $55068 per year .   Source(s):  Beltway Buzz , received on April 12, 2024.

This rule, only applying to State and local government entities, holding them responsible on improving their web and mobile application (app) access for people with disabilities. This rule ensures those with disabilities can access important programs and activities like health care, transportation information, education, etc.   Is this something that may come to the public sector?  I guess only time will tell.   Source:  Department of Justice Press Release , received on April 8, 2024.

  When a business makes the decision to purchase a business or puts a business up for sale, there are important things that should reviewed: Employment and Benefit Issues:   WARN Act:  The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (“WARN”) Act requires covered employers (“Covered Employers”) to give its employees and certain government officials sixty days’ notice of a mass layoff or plant closing which affects fifty or more employes at a single site of employment. Covered employers are those with on e hundred or more full-time employees, who have been employed for at least six month of the twelve months preceding the date of the required notic e. Many sales of businesses result in employment losses at Covered Employers, so WARN Act implications must be analyzed.     In addition, due diligence should be conducted into prior mass layoffs and/or plant closings conducted by the seller to determine if they were triggering events under the WARN Act, ...

The Governor of Main, Janet Mills, vetoed the legislation (Bill LD 1496 that would have restricted the context in which employers in the state of Maine could use and enforce Non-Compete Agreements.   Under the current law, Maine employers may use non-competition agreements to protect trade secrets, confidential information (which does not qualify as a trade secret), and employer goodwill. Employers must disclose the agreements before an offer of employment and give employees at least three business days before requiring that an agreement be signed. Additionally, employees making at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level (currently, $60,240 a year) cannot enter into non-competition agreements. Civil penalties accompany violations of income level and disclosure requirements. The amendments of 2023 added a prohibition on non-competition agreements for veterinarians unless the veterinarian has an ownership interest in the facility. If it became law, LD 1496 would have left m...

  Cal/OSHA is responsible for enforcing the requirements of  SB 553 , which will start to be enforceable on July 1, 2024 ( This is posted on our Compliance Calendar ). SB 533 is now codified in  California Labor Code Section 6401.9   Recently, they have published new  Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)  to assist employers with Compliance.   Some important pieces, we should consider:   Employers need to provide initial training under their WVPP by July 1, 2024, when enforcement commences.   Employers must ensure their written WVPP “is specific to the hazards and corrective measures for each work area and operation” and not a top-down “corporate plan.”   Animal attacks and other “acts of violence or threat of violence” are included in the definition of workplace violence under the legislation.   Source(s):  JacksonLewis , received on April 4, 2024;  CaseText , accessed on April 5, 2024;  State of California Department of...

A California lawmaker is pushing for legislation to make it illegal for bosses to regularly contact you after hours, unless it's an emergency or to address work schedule issues. The Washington Post reported that more than half of workers respond to work messages outside of their normal hours.   If this law is passed, any employer that violates it, could face a fine of at least $100 per offense.   Source(s):  Law360 , received on April 3, 2024;  Washington Post , accessed on April 5, 2024.