Compliance Stuff

  On February 5, 2025, a federal judge in Maryland issued a nationwide preliminary injunction that halts President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at terminating birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented and temporary immigrants. Quick Hits Nationwide preliminary injunction issued:  U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman blocked President Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship, citing constitutional conflicts and long-standing legal precedent. Temporary relief granted:   The injunction, brought by five undocumented pregnant women and two immigrant rights groups, provides temporary relief while the lawsuit proceeds, with the administration expected to appeal the decision. In a significant development, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on February 5, 2025, blocking President Trump’s executive order, titled, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.”...

  Michigan Requires New Veteran’s Resources Labor Law Poster On Jan. 16, 2025, Governor Whitmer signed the Veteran’s Employee Resource Notification Act ( HB 5736 ) in Michigan.    Employer Requirements Under HB 5736 Effective April 2, 2025, employers with 1 or more full-time employees must conspicuously display a new labor law poster at the workplace that provides resources available to veterans. The following information must be included on the poster:   Mental health services   Substance abuse services   Education, work, and job training resources   Tax benefits   How to obtain a veteran designation on a state driver’s license or personal identification card   Unemployment benefits under both state and federal law   Legal services   Phone number and website for the state department of military and veterans affairs   Phone number, website, and veterans crisis line for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Michigan’s Labor L...

A series of game-changing moves from the White House have left employers struggling to understand the lay of the land when it comes to the nation’s labor law. Even though it might feel like we’re entering unchartered territory, the thought leaders in FP’s Labor Relations Practice Group have a pretty good sense of what’s in store for employers in the short term and the long term – especially when it comes to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This Insight will capture the current state of affairs and provide an analysis of what you might expect in the coming weeks and months. Overview of the NLRB The NLRB is an independent federal agency established in 1935 under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Its primary role is to enforce labor laws related to union activities and collective bargaining by investigating and prosecuting unfair labor practices in the private sector. In addition, the NLRB oversees representation elections seeking to certify or decertify unions as the r...

  President Trump was sworn in for a second term the morning of January 20 th , and he spent the rest of that day setting a record for the most ever Day 1 executive actions (i.e., Executive Orders, Proclamations, pardons, etc.). Among those Day 1 executive actions (and a couple others that followed later in his first week back in the White House), was a series of Executive Orders (EOs) and directives targeting staffing, budgeting, and rulemaking, which are designed to drastically shrink regulatory and enforcement agencies, like OSHA. These executive actions – including a hiring freeze, budget cuts, return-to-office mandates, buyouts, and reclassification of career positions into political appointments – are put of a systematic strategy to diminish regulatory agencies. This effort to shrink OSHA and other executive agencies should come as no surprise to anyone. Dismantling the administrative state was a stated goal of the first Trump Administration and again from the campaign trail...

  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released new guidance on the federal income and employment tax treatment of contributions and benefits paid under state paid family and medical leave (PFML) statutes. This guidance also outlines the related reporting requirements for employers and employees . There was no published guidance that addressed the taxation or reporting requirements of state PFML statutes before the publishing of  Revenue Ruling 2025-4 . Quick Hits The IRS has clarified the tax treatment of mandatory employee and employer contributions to state PFML funds, as well as optional employer payment of mandatory employee contributions. Employers c an deduct their contributions as business expenses, while employees may deduct their contributions as state income taxes if they itemize deductions and otherwise do not exceed the SALT deduction cap . Amounts paid to employees as family leave benefits are included in the employee’s gross income but are not wages for federa...