Compliance Stuff

At a Glance The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters. NLRB Has a Quorum! On January 7, Senate-confirmed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) nominees James Murphy and Scott Mayer were sworn in as new Board members, giving the Board a 2-1 Republican majority. The Board now has the requisite quorum needed to clear the backlog of cases and start issuing decisions. Murphy will have a term that expires on December 16, 2027, while Mayer’s term will expire on December 16, 2029.    At this time, a third Republican nominee has yet to be named and confirmed, which means the Board may adhere to its longstanding policy of not changing precedent without three votes in the affirmative. Additionally, Crystal Carey was sworn in as the Board’s general counsel for a four-year term. Read  here  for Littler’s insight.  U.S. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division Issues Six New Opinion Let...

Your employee, Thelma, has requested FMLA leave to take her mom, Louise, to regular doctor appointments. Though the appointment itself will take one hour, Thelma wants to schedule it in the middle of the workday and for a total of five hours. The travel, she says, takes “quite a bit of time . . . and it’s none of your business.” Beginning 2026 a little salty, we see? Naturally, you’re frustrated, since you sense that Thelma purposefully encouraged that appointment for midday, and in any event, there’s no way this doc is two hours each way! The medical appointment itself clearly is covered by FMLA. But is  travel time  associated with the medical appointment covered as well? In an  opinion letter issued this week , the Department of Labor answered the question: . . . when an eligible employee travels to or from a health care provider for a medical appointment regarding the employee’s [or family member’s] serious health condition, he or she may take FMLA leave not only for ...