Compliance Stuff

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) emerged from the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to address widespread concerns about workplace safety. The statute reflects a deliberate structural choice: OSHA operates within the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) as an executive enforcement and rulemaking agency, while OSHRC functions as an independent, adjudicatory commission to ensure impartial review of OSHA citations. From inception, this bifurcated design raised separation-of-powers questions central to administrative law: how far the U.S. Congress may insulate adjudicators from presidential influence, the extent to which it may delegate policymaking discretion to the executive, and the constitutional limits governing agency adjudication and the right to a jury trial. Quick Hits Humphrey’s Executor v. United States , decided in 1935, has long supported the independence of agencies like OSHRC. Recent...

This week, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) reintroduced the Restoring Justice for Workers Act (S. 4502 / H.R. 8691). The bill would prohibit pre-dispute agreements to arbitrate workplace claims, overturn the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Epic Systems by banning class action waivers, and establish certain notice and waiting period requirements for post-dispute arbitration agreements. The bill is yet another effort to prohibit or limit the arbitration of workplace disputes. At this time, however, the bill does not appear to enjoy the bipartisan popularity of the Protecting Older Americans Act of 2023 (S. 1979). Source(s) : Ogletree Deakins , received on June 17, 2024; senate.gov , accessed on June 20, 2024; Ogletree Deakins , accessed on June 20, 2024; congress.gov , accessed on June 20, 2024.

  No Robot Bosses Act  ( 2419 1 , introduced by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)) This Act would ban employers from relying exclusively on automated decision systems (ADS) to make “employment-related decisions”.  Decisions from the recruiting stage, pay, scheduling, benefits, even through termination.  This bill plans to protect not only employees and applicants, but independent contractors.   Stop Spying Bosses Act ( 262 2 , introduced by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)) This Act specifically targets invasive workplace surveillance, such as tracking employee activity including their location.  This bill would require employers that do engage in such surveillance to disclose such information to employees and applicants.  The disclosure will provide details about the data being collected and how the surveillance affects the employment-related decisions.     In addition, this bill would ban employers from collecting sensitive data, such as data collection while an ...