Compliance Stuff

Here are the top ten items you should tackle in October 2025, based on the latest workplace law developments and upcoming critical compliance dates: _____ Learn what you can – and can’t – do about employee speech.  As employee expression spills into every corner of the modern workplace, employers are trying to figure out the best way to respond to off-duty social media rants, political debates in the workplace, dress code disputes, and other types of activity. Here’s our  employer guide to navigating employee speech in various scenarios . _____ Assess how the government shutdown impacts your operations.  The federal government officially shut down on October 1 after Congress failed to reach a spending agreement   by the deadline. How will the shutdown impact employers? Here are our  answers to your top questions . _____ Plan for big changes to the H-1B and other visa programs.  The Trump administration upended immigration and workforce strategies for many...

The US Department of Labor (DOL) just released its latest  semiannual regulatory agenda , and employers should tune in. The agency’s current proposals include high-priority actions related to joint employer determinations, independent contractor classification, minimum wage and overtime exemptions, workplace safety, and more . Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said that the DOL’s “bold” agenda, which was unveiled on September 4, “focuses on flexibility, transparency, and common-sense reform.” Here’s your employer guide to some of the agency’s key proposals. 1. Joint Employer Status Under the FLSA ( RIN 1235-AA48 ) The DOL will revisit the standard for determining joint employer liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which has been a hot-button issue for years now. The agency plans to issue a new proposed rule in December that would guide enforcement and “help promote greater uniformity among court decisions nationwide.” While the details of this proposal remain ...

WASHINGTON  – The U.S. Department of Labor’s  Wage and Hour Division  today issued a  field assistance bulletin   providing guidance on how to determine employee or independent contractor status when enforcing the  Fair Labor Standards Act .  While the department reviews the 2024 final rule,  Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act  – which is also being challenged in federal court – agency investigators are directed not to apply the 2024 rule’s analysis in current enforcement matters . Instead, the division will rely on longstanding principles outlined in  Fact Sheet #13  and further informed by the reinstated  Opinion Letter FLSA2019-6 , which addresses classification in the context of virtual marketplace platforms. This approach provides greater clarity for businesses and workers navigating modern work arrangements while legal and regulatory questions are resolved.  This guid...