Compliance Stuff

After several months without a functioning quorum, President Trump nominated James Murphy and Scott Mayer to fill vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board late last week, signaling the potential for a significant course correction of the nation’s labor law landscape . Once confirmed as expected, these nominees could quickly reshape things for employers across the country, especially as many continue to grapple with aggressive union activity, a backlog of Board decisions, and sweeping changes to precedent issued under the prior administration. With the pendulum poised to swing back, employers should start preparing now for what could be a more management-friendly Board. Here is a quick recap and a list of the five most significant cases you should keep your eye on. Trump's Picks and a Path Back to Quorum On July 17, President Trump announced the nominations of two new Board members to fill two of the vacant seats on the NLRB: Scott Mayer, chief labor counsel at a global ae...

A video game developer needs to hope that the Force is with it as it squares off with a union over the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace. SAG-AFTRA just filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against Epic Games over the use of an AI-generated Darth Vader voice in the video game  Fortnite , accusing the gaming giant’s subsidiary, Llama Productions, of unlawfully replacing union voice actors without bargaining. The May 19 charge has ignited a high-profile clash over AI and labor rights – and serves as a warning for any employer eyeing AI as a cost-cutting replacement for human work. What Happened? On May 19, SAG-AFTRA filed a ULP charge against Llama Productions, a subsidiary of Epic Games, after the popular video game  Fortnite  unveiled an AI-generated version of Darth Vader using the iconic voice of James Earl Jones. While the employer says it received the approval of the late actor’s estate, the ULP alleges that Epic Games failed to consult with the ...

  The 2024 California legislative session saw the passage of a number of new and important labor and employment laws Please see full publication from Jones Day. Source(s): JD Supra (Jones Day) , received on January 24, 2025.

  The Presidential Election is upon us with many indicators predicting a close election. The two candidates and their respective party platforms offer opposing views on many major issues. While some issues play more prominently in the press than others, issues related to Labor Law feature two vastly divergent approaches. S ince President Trump already has a track record on federal labor policy and Vice President Harris signals support for   President Biden’s   labor policy, here are three areas in Labor Law that will be sensitive to who takes the oath of office on January 20, 2025. Joint Employer Status Whether two companies are considered joint employers under the law has significant implications for whether and to what extent civil liability may be assessed against both companies for only one company’s actions. It also impacts whether labor union organizing may eventually compel both companies rather than one to recognize and bargain with a union. The approach under the...

The National Labor Relations Board is appealing a Texas district court’s ruling that struck down the Board’s 2023 joint-employer rule as unlawfully overbroad. U.S. Chamber of  Commerce v. NLRB, No. 6:23-cv-00553-JCB (E.D. Tex. May 7, 2024). The rule sought to broaden the Board’s prior standard by finding two entities are joint employers when one entity possesses the authority to control at least one of seven enumerated essential terms and conditions of employment of the other entity’s employees, regardless of whether the first entity actually exercises that control. The Board is appealing the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Following the district court’s ruling, the U.S. Congress approved a resolution to reject the new rule, but President Joe Biden vetoed the resolution. The joint-employer analysis has significant implications for employers as, inter alia, it determines when one entity can be held liable for the other’s unfair labor practices and when ...